Intraepidermal nerve fiber assessment in Macaque fascicularis

Patients with peripheral neuropathy may present with a constellation of symptoms related the fibers that are affected. Small fiber neuropathy causes sensory and autonomic symptoms. Small fiber neuropathy cannot be confirmed with standard clinical neurophysiological investigations. However, small fiber neuropathy can be evaluated with intaepidermal skin biopsy. Neurofilament Protein clone 2F11 antibody was used to label intraepidermal nerve fibers in skin biopsies from an adult Macaca fascicularis. Small fibers were well visualized with this technique. In summary, the preliminary data suggests that this technique can be utilized to evaluate the intraepidermal fibers in the Macaque  fascicularis. As in human beings, qualitative and quantitative techniques may be employed to evaluate the images.