Transfection of agrin gene on the recovery of muscle function after free neurovascular muscle transfer / 中华整形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of transfection of agrin gene on the recovery of muscle function after a free neurovascular muscle transfer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The electrical gene transfection was performed when the gracilis muscle of the SD rat was completed free neurovascular transfer. The experimental group was treated with pCS2+ -agrin, the group with plasmid pCS2+ as the negative control and the group with normal saline as the frank control. The muscle function, expression of neural agrin and the junctional nAChR number was measured after the operation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 4, 5 and 10 weeks postoperatively, the pCS2+ -agrin group was significantly better than the control groups in muscle function (P < 0.05 ). The immunohistochemical staining showed an increasing deposition of the agrin protein near the endplate at 1 and 5 weeks after the operation, but decreasing remarkably to the level of control groups at 10 weeks postoperatively. The pCS2+ -agrin group was significantly more than the control groups in junctional nAChR number at every points of the time postoperatively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Transfection of agrin gene in the transferred muscle may increase the early recovery of muscle function.</p>