Central chromatolysis

Image:Central chromatolysis - intermed mag - cropped.jpg of the anterior horn of the spinal cord showing motor neurons with central chromatolysis. H&E stain.]]

Image:Central chromatolysis - nf - very high mag.jpg of the anterior horn of the spinal cord showing motor neurons with central chromatolysis. Neurofilament immunostain.]]

Central chromatolysis is a histopathologic change seen in the cell body of a neuron, where the chromatin and cell nucleus are pushed to the cell periphery, in response to axonal injury.Neuropathology - Basic Reactions. University of Vermont. URL: [http://www.uvm.edu/~jkessler/NP/neuropbr.htm http://www.uvm.edu/~jkessler/NP/neuropbr.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101150924/http://www.uvm.edu/~jkessler/NP/neuropbr.htm |date=January 1, 2010 }}. Accessed on: 1 January 2011.{{cite journal |author=Holland GR |title=Experimental trigeminal nerve injury |journal=Crit. Rev. Oral Biol. Med. |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=237–58 |year=1996 |pmid=8909880 }}

This response is associated with increased protein synthesis to accommodate for axonal sprouting.

In addition to traumatic injuries, central chromatolysis may be caused by vitamin deficiency (pellagra{{cite journal |vauthors=Piercecchi-Marti MD, Pélissier-Alicot AL, Leonetti G, Tervé JP, Cianfarani F, Pellissier JF |title=Pellagra: a rare disease observed in a victim of mental and physical abuse |journal=Am J Forensic Med Pathol |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=342–4 |date=December 2004 |pmid=15577526 |doi= 10.1097/01.paf.0000136589.28903.e5}}).