OBJECTIVES We developed a standardized method of minimally invasive transoral laryngeal (ToL) bipolar electromyography (EMG) for evaluation of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) recovery after a controlled crush injury in a rat model. METHODS Ten 200- to 250-g Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a controlled crush injury to the left RLN performed with 60 seconds of use of a calibrated aneurysm clamp w...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) protein and bioactivity are reduced in the peripheral nerve of hyperglycemic rats with a cause related to metabolism of hexose sugars by aldose reductase. Here the efficacy of CNTF treatment against disorders of nerve function in hyperglycemic rats was investigated. CNTF treatment from the onset of 8 weeks of galactose feeding prevented nerve conduction slowin...

The objects of this paper are (a) to report on a study of mediastinal shift and apico-basal diameters of the lungs in a series of 80 patients undergoing phrenic nerve crush and pneumoperitoneum therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis: (b) to discuss the mechanism and therapeutic significance of the mediastinal shift. Although studies of mediastinal shift following phrenic nerve paralysis alone have ...

In order to test the regenerative capacity of atrophic axons, a constricting ligature was placed around the proximal tibial nerve of the rabbit, and the nerve crushed at the ankle one week later. Axonal atrophy with altered g ratios was subsequently confirmed in fibres distal to the site of ligature and proximal to the site of crush. In nerves with tight proximal ligatures the reinnervation of ...

The significance of a previously observed increase in retinal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) following optic nerve crush was investigated in goldfish using a specific irreversible inhibitor of ODC, alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO). Retinal ODC activity and putrescine levels were reduced 80% and 40%, respectively, by intraperitoneal injection(s) of DFMO. In fish in which the righ...

PURPOSE To determine whether a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) is useful for in vivo imaging and counting of rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). METHODS RGCs of Brown Norway rats were retrogradely labeled bilaterally with the fluorescent dye 4-(4-(dihexadecylamino)styryl)-N-methylpyridinium iodine (DiA). The unilateral optic nerve was crushed intraorbitally with a clip. RGCs were imaged in...

Early inflammatory events may inhibit functional recovery after injury in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. We investigated the role of the inflammatory tumor necrosis factor/nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) axis on events subsequent to sciatic nerve crush injury in adult rats. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that within 6 hours after crush, NF-kappaB DNA-binding ...

BACKGROUND Walking track analysis which has been widely used to examine the recovery of gait functions in rats with sciatic nerve injury. PURPOSE The present study was aimed to objectively analyze and quantify the degree of functional recovery in locomotor behavior of rats after inflicting sciatic nerve crush injury. METHODS Wistar rats trained on various runways, viz., narrow beam, grid an...

We performed this study to evaluate the effect of cavernous nerve (CN) traction on erectile function in rats. Thirty-two 8- week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: control, 1-minute CN traction, 2-minute CN traction, and 2-minute CN crush. CN traction was performed using a glass hook with a tensile force of 0.2 Newton. One month later, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and in...

Following injury to their peripheral branches, mechanosensory neurons in Aplysia display long-term plasticity that is expressed as soma hyperexcitability, synaptic facilitation, and neurite outgrowth. To investigate the nature of signals that convey information about distant axonal injury, we have investigated the development of injury-induced soma hyperexcitability in two in vitro preparations...