Neuropathies

The peripheral nervous system is very vulnerable to damage of various origi n. This results in neuropathies, which can be multifactorial. In this chapt er we will focus our attention to 3 human neuropathies for which we have su ccessfully developed and used animal models, i.e. diabetes mellitus-induced neuropathy, the immune-mediated Guillain-Barre syndrome (and its animal eq uivalent experimental allergic neuritis) and a toxic neuropathy caused by t he cytostatic drug cisplatin. For these neuropathies we will describe the h uman etiology and pathology, followed by a description of the corresponding animal model which we have developed for laboratory rats. Furthermore, the parameters by which the disease is monitored in the animal models are disc ussed. Finally, the human neuropathy and its animal model are compared.