title: Tissue-engineered nerve graft with tetramethylpyrazine for repair of sciatic nerve defects in rats.
abstract: A tissue-engineered nerve with tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) was repaired for sciatic nerve defects in rats. A total of 55 adult Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were classified into 4 groups, with 15 rats in each of groups A, B, and C as well as 10 rats in group D. About 1.5cm of a sciatic nerve of the right hind limb located 0.5cm below the inferior margin of the piriformis was resected to form the defects. Four types of nerve grafts used for bridging nerve defects in the SD rats corresponded to the 4 groups: tissue-engineered nerves with TMP in group A, tissue-engineered nerves without TMP in group B, acellular nerve grafts (ANGs) in group C, and autologous nerves in group D. Twelve weeks post-surgery, the sciatic functional index, nerve conduction velocity, and gastrocnemius wet weight of groups A and D were higher than those of groups B and C (P<0.05). Results of fluorescence microscopy and histological staining indicated that group A performed better than groups B and C (P<0.05). Similarly, the number of horseradish peroxidase-labeled positive cells was significantly larger in group A than in groups B and C. Regenerative nerve fibers were abundant in group A and consisted mainly of myelinated nerve fibers, which were better than those in groups B and C (P<0.05). The study demonstrated that tissue-engineered nerves constructed by ANGs seeded with neural stem cells and combined with TMP can effectively repair sciatic nerve defects in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Feifan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Daiqing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: xnykdxff@163.com.
authors.forename: Yunkang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Haotian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Yuanlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D005260:Female; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011719:Pyrazines / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000166:cytology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D011719:Pyrazines; C017953:tetramethylpyrazine
keywords: Acellular nerve grafts; Genetic modification; Neural stem cells; Peripheral nerve defect; Tetramethylpyrazine; Tissue-engineered