Effects of human amniotic fluid on peripheral nerve scarring and regeneration in rats

2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Güzin Yeşim Özgenel ◽  
Gülaydan Filiz

Object. Peripheral nerve repair surgery is still replete with challenges. Despite technical improvements in microsurgery, classic methods of nerve repair have failed to provide satisfactory results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of amniotic fluid from humans on peripheral nerve scarring and regeneration in rats. Methods. Forty adult Sprague—Dawley rats were used in this study. After the right sciatic nerve in each rat was transected and repaired using an epineural suture procedure, the nerves were divided into two groups according to the solution applied around the repair site: experimental group, 0.3 ml human amniotic fluid (HAF); and control group, 0.3 ml saline. Macroscopic and histological evaluations of peripheral nerve scarring were performed 4 weeks postsurgery. Nerves treated with HAF demonstrated a significant reduction in the amount of scar tissue surrounding the repair site (p < 0.05). No evidence of a reaction against HAF was noted. Functional nerve regeneration was measured once every 2 weeks by using a sciatic function index until 12 weeks postsurgery. Functional recovery in nerves treated with amniotic fluid occurred significantly faster than that in nerves treated with saline (p < 0.05). Peripheral nerve regeneration was evaluated histomorphologically at 12 weeks postsurgery. Nerves treated with amniotic fluid showed significant improvement with respect to the indices of fiber maturation (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Preliminary data show that HAF enhances peripheral nerve regeneration. The preventive effect of HAF on epineural scarring and the rich content of neurotrophic and neurite-promoting factors possibly contribute to this result.

2004 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 806-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiro Mimura ◽  
Mari Dezawa ◽  
Hiroshi Kanno ◽  
Hajime Sawada ◽  
Isao Yamamoto

Object. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) can be induced to form Schwann cells by sequentially treating the cells with β-mercaptoethanol and retinoic acid, followed by forskolin and neurotrophic factors including heregulin. In this study the authors made artificial grafts filled with BMSC-derived Schwann cells (BMSC-DSCs) and transplanted them into the transected sciatic nerve in adult rats to evaluate the potential of BMSCs as a novel alternative method of peripheral nerve regeneration. Methods. The BMSC-DSCs were suspended in Matrigel and transferred into hollow fibers (12 mm in length), which were transplanted into the transected sciatic nerve in adult Wistar rats. Six months after cell transplantation, electrophysiological evaluation and walking track analysis were performed. Results of these studies showed significant improvement in motor nerve conduction velocity and sciatic nerve functional index in the BMSC-DSC—transplanted group compared with the control group (Matrigel graft only). Immunohistochemical study data demonstrated that transplanted BMSCs labeled with retrovirus green fluorescent protein were positive for P0 and myelin-associated glycoprotein and had reconstructed nodes of Ranvier and remyelinated regenerated nerve axons. The number of regenerated axons in the axial section of the central portion of the graft was significantly greater in the transplanted group. Although BMSCs can differentiate into several types of cells, tumor formation did not occur 6 months after engraftment. Conclusions. Results in this study indicate that BMSC-DSCs have great potential to promote regeneration of peripheral nerves. The artificial graft made with BMSC-DSCs represents an alternative method for the difficult reconstruction of a long distance gap in a peripheral nerve.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhui Kou ◽  
Zhiyong Wang ◽  
Zhihong Wu ◽  
Peixun Zhang ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
...  

Effects ofEpimediumextract and its constituent icariin on peripheral nerve repair were investigated in a crush injury rat model. Animals were divided into four groups: sham, control,Epimediumextract, and icariin groups. At postoperative weeks 1, 2, 4, and 8, nerve regeneration and functional recovery were evaluated by sciatic functional index (SFI), nerve electrophysiology, nerve pinch test, and muscle wet weight. Results showed that at 2 and 4 weeks after surgery rats in theEpimediumgroup displayed a better recovery of nerve function than that in the icariin and control groups, with better recovery in the icariin group than in the control group. The nerve pinch test showed that nerve regeneration was greater in theEpimediumgroup and the icariin group as compared to the control group. In addition, the muscle wet weight in theEpimediumgroup was significantly improved when compared with the icariin group, and the improvement in the icariin group was better than that in the control group at 8 weeks after operation. Our findings suggest thatEpimediumextract effectively promotes peripheral nerve regeneration and improves the function of damaged nerves.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1304-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung-Chuan Pan ◽  
Chun-Shih Chin ◽  
Dar-Yu Yang ◽  
Shu-Peng Ho ◽  
Chung-Jung Chen ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Feixiang Chen ◽  
Weihuang Liu ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Ping Wu ◽  
Ao Xiao ◽  
...  

AbstractPeripheral nerve injury is a serious health problem and repairing long nerve deficits remains a clinical challenge nowadays. Nerve guidance conduit (NGC) serves as the most promising alternative therapy strategy to autografts but its repairing efficiency needs improvement. In this study, we investigated whether modulating the immune microenvironment by Interleukin-17F (IL-17F) could promote NGC mediated peripheral nerve repair. Chitosan conduits were used to bridge sciatic nerve defect in IL-17F knockout mice and wild-type mice with autografts as controls. Our data revealed that IL-17F knockout mice had improved functional recovery and axonal regeneration of sciatic nerve bridged by chitosan conduits comparing to the wild-type mice. Notably, IL-17F knockout mice had enhanced anti-inflammatory macrophages in the NGC repairing microenvironment. In vitro data revealed that IL-17F knockout peritoneal and bone marrow derived macrophages had increased anti-inflammatory markers after treatment with the extracts from chitosan conduits, while higher pro-inflammatory markers were detected in the Raw264.7 macrophage cell line, wild-type peritoneal and bone marrow derived macrophages after the same treatment. The biased anti-inflammatory phenotype of macrophages by IL-17F knockout probably contributed to the improved chitosan conduit guided sciatic nerve regeneration. Additionally, IL-17F could enhance pro-inflammatory factors production in Raw264.7 cells and wild-type peritoneal macrophages. Altogether, IL-17F may partially mediate chitosan conduit induced pro-inflammatory polarization of macrophages during nerve repair. These results not only revealed a role of IL-17F in macrophage function, but also provided a unique and promising target, IL-17F, to modulate the microenvironment and enhance the peripheral nerve regeneration.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 364-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Maria Beder Ribeiro ◽  
Belmiro Cavalcanti do Egito Vasconcelos ◽  
Joaquim Celestino da Silva Neto ◽  
Valdemiro Amaro da Silva Júnior ◽  
Nancy Gurgel Figueiredo

PURPOSE: To analyze the action of gangliosides in peripheral nerve regeneration in the sciatic nerve of the rat. METHODS: The sample was composed of 96 male Wistar rats. The animals were anaesthetized and, after identification of the anaesthesic plane, an incision was made in the posterior region of the thigh, followed by skin and muscle divulsion. The right sciatic nerve was isolated and compressed for 2 minutes. Continuous suture of the skin was performed. The animals were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (EG), which received subcutaneous injection of gangliosides, and the control group (CG), which received saline solution (0.9%) to mimic the effects of drug administration. RESULTS: No differences were observed between the experimental and control groups evaluated on the eighth day of observation. At 15 and 30 days the EG showed an decrease in Schwann cell activity and an apparent improvement in fibre organization; at 60 days, there was a slight presence of Schwann cells in the endoneural space and the fibres were organized, indicating nerve regeneration. At 15 and 30 days, the level of cell reaction in the CG had diminished, but there were many cells with cytoplasm in activity and in mitosis; at 60 days, hyperplastic Schwann cells and mitotic activity were again observed, as well as nerve regeneration, but to a lesser extent than in the EG. CONCLUSION: The administration of exogenous gangliosides seems to improve nerve regeneration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Carvalho ◽  
S. Wrobel ◽  
C. Meyer ◽  
C. Brandenberger ◽  
I. F. Cengiz ◽  
...  

This experimental work considers the innovative use of the biomaterial Gellan Gum (GG) as a luminal filler for nerve guidance channels.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 865-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Chi Lee ◽  
Chin-Chuan Tsai ◽  
Chun-Hsu Yao ◽  
Yuan-Man Hsu ◽  
Yueh-Sheng Chen ◽  
...  

The present study provides in vitro and in vivo evaluation of arecoline on peripheral nerve regeneration. In the in vitro study, we found that arecoline at 50 μg/ml could significantly promote the survival and outgrowth of cultured Schwann cells as compared to the controls treated with culture medium only. In the in vivo study, we evaluated peripheral nerve regeneration across a 10-mm gap in the sciatic nerve of the rat, using a silicone rubber nerve chamber filled with the arecoline solution. In the control group, the chambers were filled with normal saline only. At the end of the fourth week, morphometric data revealed that the arecoline-treated group at 5 μg/ml significantly increased the number and the density of myelinated axons as compared to the controls. Immunohistochemical staining in the arecoline-treated animals at 5 μg/ml also showed their neural cells in the L4 and L5 dorsal root ganglia ipsilateral to the injury were strongly retrograde-labeled with fluorogold and lamina I–II regions in the dorsal horn ipsilateral to the injury were significantly calcitonin gene-related peptide-immunolabeled compared with the controls. In addition, we found that the number of macrophages recruited in the distal sciatic nerve was increased as the concentration of arecoline was increased. Electrophysiological measurements showed the arecoline-treated groups at 5 and 50 μg/ml had a relatively larger nerve conductive velocity of the evoked muscle action potentials compared to the controls. These results indicate that arecoline could stimulate local inflammatory conditions, improving the recovery of a severe peripheral nerve injury.


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