EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NERVE-MUSCLE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF THE SCIATIC NERVE GAP BY ACELLULAR ALLOGRAFTS IN RAT / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

Objective The experiment was designed to investigate the effect of acellular nerve allografts on the functional recovery and reconstruction of the nerve-muscle structure of the sciatic nerve defect in rats. Methods Acellular nerve allograft was transferred into the defected rat sciatic nerve with 10mm long.The wet weight of tibialis anterior was weighed at 12 and 24 weeks postoperatively compared with control group.The conducted velocity of regenerated nerve and the effect of regenerated nerve on tibialis anterior were investigated by electrophysiologic test,and silver staining combined with AChE histochemical methods were used in the experiment separately. Results The wet weight of tibialis anterior and the conducted velocity of regenerated nerve in experimental group were similar to those in control group in 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation.The positive acetylcholinesterase(AChE)histochemical reaction was observed in the tibialis anterior at 12 weeks with deeper staining and located in the middle of tibialis anterior tidily at 24 weeks after operation.The regenerated nerve bundles and nerve terminals were found to grow into the motor end-plate of the tibialis anterior in silver staining combined with AChE staining in experiment group.Electromyogram showed that the regenerated nerve has innervated tibialis anterior already.Conclusion The results indicated that extracted nerve allografts as a bridge can promote the motor functional recovery and reconstruction of the nerve-muscle structure of the defected rat sciatic nerve.