title: Regenerative cell injection in denervated muscle reduces atrophy and enhances recovery following nerve repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional muscle recovery after peripheral nerve injury is far from optimal, partly due to atrophy of the muscle arising from prolonged denervation. We hypothesized that injecting regenerative cells into denervated muscle would reduce this atrophy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A rat sciatic nerve lesion was performed, and Schwann cells or adipose-derived stem cells, untreated or induced to a "Schwann-cell-like" phenotype (dASC), were injected into the gastrocnemius muscle. Nerves were either repaired immediately or capped to prevent muscle reinnervation. One month later, functionality was measured using a walking track test, and muscle atrophy was assessed by examining muscle weight and histology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Schwann cells and dASC groups showed significantly better scores on functional tests when compared with injections of growth medium alone. Muscle weight and histology were also significantly improved in these groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cell injections may reduce muscle atrophy and could benefit nerve injury patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Section for Anatomy, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schaakxs
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Kalbermatten
authors.forename: Wassim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Raffoul
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiberg
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Kingham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009121:Muscle Denervation; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*