Differential cellular FGF-2 upregulation in the rat facial nucleus following axotomy, functional electrical stimulation and corticosterone: a possible therapeutic target to Bell's palsy.

Background: The etiology of Bell's palsy can vary but anterograde axonal degeneration may delay spontaneous functional recovery leading the necessity of therapeutic interventions. Corticotherapy and/or complementary rehabilitation interventions have been employed. Thus the natural history of the disease reports to a neurotrophic resistance of adult facial motoneurons leading a favorable evolution however the related molecular mechanisms that might be therapeutically addressed in the resistant cases are not known.

Basic fibroblast growth factor, neurofilament, and glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivities in the myenteric plexus of the rat esophagus and colon.

The enteric nervous system consists of a number of interconnected networks of neuronal cell bodies and fibers as well as satellite cells, the enteric glia. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a mitogen for a variety of mesodermal and neuroectodermal-derived cells and its presence has been described in many tissues. The present work employs immunohistochemistry to analyze neurons and glial cells in the esophageal and colic enteric plexus of the Wistar rat for neurofilament (NF) and glial fibrillary acidic proteins (GFAP) immunoreactivity as well as bFGF immunoreactivity in these cells.