Nerve growth factor plays a critical role in peripheral nerve regeneration. However, the lack of efficient NGF delivery approach limits its clinical application. It has demonstrated in our previous work that the native human NGF-beta (NAT-NGF) fused with a collagen-binding domain (CBD) could bind to collagen specifically. Since collagen is the major component of nerve extracellular matrix, we s...

The effect of a change in neurofilament (NF) and tubulin gene expression on the elongation of axonal sprouts by adult rat sensory neurons was examined. Distal sciatic nerve crush axotomy was used to initiate changes in cytoskeletal gene expression in lumbar dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. In situ hybridization of DRG neurons with 35S-labeled cDNA probes revealed a significant reduction in t...

Effects of FK506 [5.0 mg/kg body weight (BW), subcutaneous, daily] on nerve regeneration and presence of macrophages in lesioned rat sciatic nerves were studied. Models of autologous nerve graft or a nerve crush lesion were used and regeneration was evaluated by immunocytochemistry (also used to detect ED1/ED2 macrophages) and sensory pinch reflex test, respectively. Treatment with FK506 did no...

Misdirection of regenerating axons is one of the factors that can explain the poor results often found after nerve injury and repair. In this study, we quantified the degree of misdirection and the effect on recovery of function after different types of nerve injury and repair in the rat sciatic nerve model; crush injury, direct coaptation, and autograft repair. Sequential tracing with retrogra...

To compare the long-term recovery of gene expression in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons under conditions of regeneration vs. non-regeneration, Northern blotting and in situ hybridization were used to assess steady-state neurofilament (NF) and beta tubulin mRNA levels 12 weeks following axonal injury. Adult male rats sustained either a crush lesion of the mid-sciatic nerve (regeneration occur...

All the authors declare that there is no potential conflict of interest referring to this article. Citation: Jatte FG, Mazzer N, Monte-Raso VV, Leoni ASL, Barbieri CH. Therapeutic ultrasound on the spinal cord accelerates regeneration of the sciatic nerve in rats. Acta Ortop Bras. [online]. 2011; 19(4):213-8. Available from URL: http://www.scielo.br/aob. ABSTRACT Objective: To study the effects...

We investigated whether electrical stimulation (ES) applied directly for 30 minutes after crushing injury to the sciatic nerves of rats could improve nerve regeneration. Two groups of animals were used in this study (n = 20 each): the ES group received 30 minutes of low intensity ES (20 Hz pulse rate, 2 uA amplitude) immediately after a standard crush injury, while the control group received no...

Injury to the sciatic nerve is one of the more serious complications of acetabular fracture and traumatic dislocation of the hip, both in the short and long term. We have reviewed prospectively patients, treated in our unit, for acetabular fractures who had concomitant injury to the sciatic nerve, with the aim of predicting the functional outcome after these injuries. Of 136 patients who underw...

Cell migration is central to development and post-traumatic regeneration. The differential increase in 6-sulphated chondroitins during axonal growth in both crushed sciatic nerves and brain development suggests that chondroitin 6-sulphotransferase-1 (C6ST-1) is a key enzyme that mediates cell migration in the process. We have cloned the cDNA of the C6ST-1 gene (C6st1) (GenBank accession number ...