Читать книгу Fractures in the Horse - Группа авторов - Страница 27

Bone is densely innervated, although the precise nature and role of the nervous system in bone function is still being unravelled. The periosteum is richly supplied with sensory fibres and both sensory and sympathetic fibres are present on the surface of trabeculae in epiphyseal and metaphyseal bone. In cortical bone, nerve fibres are located within Haversian and Volkmann's canals. Direct contact between nerve fibres and osteocytes has been demonstrated.

The morphology and molecular phenotype of sensory neurons that innervate periosteum and the medullary cavity is consistent with a role in nociception. However, the precise mechanisms behind sensation of pain derived from bone are poorly understood [8].

There is increasing evidence that the nervous system plays a role in controlling the activity of bone cells and their homeostatic functions [9]. The mechanisms are not understood but may relate to direct effects of signalling molecules in nerve fibres through receptors expressed by bone cells, indirectly via the effects of neuromediators on bone blood flow or through regulation of cytokines expressed by cells of the immune system. There is some evidence that the nervous system may play a central role in the adaptation of bone to changes in its mechanical environment, mediated by the dense network of periosteal and endosteal nerve fibres.