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Etifoxine provides benefits in nerve repair with acellular nerve grafts
Author(s) -
Zhou Xiang,
He Bo,
Zhu Zhaowei,
He Xinhua,
Zheng Canbin,
Xu Jian,
Jiang Li,
Gu Liqiang,
Zhu Jiakai,
Zhu Qingtang,
Liu Xiaolin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.24131
Subject(s) - regeneration (biology) , neurotrophin , sciatic nerve , medicine , epineurial repair , nerve conduction velocity , nerve injury , nerve growth factor , neurofilament , anesthesia , anatomy , pathology , immunohistochemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor
: Acellular nerve grafts are good candidates for nerve repair, but the clinical outcome of grafting is not always satisfactory. We investigated whether etifoxine could enhance nerve regeneration. Methods : Seventy‐two Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: (1) autograft; (2) acellular nerve graft; and (3) acellular nerve graft plus etifoxine. Histological and electrophysiological examinations were performed to evaluate the efficacy of nerve regeneration. Walking‐track analysis was used to examine functional recovery. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate changes in mRNA level. Results : Etifoxine: (i) increased expression of neurofilaments in regenerated axons; (ii) improved sciatic nerve regeneration measured by histological examination; (iii) increased nerve conduction velocity; (iv) improved walking behavior as measured by footprint analysis; and (v) boosted expression of neurotrophins. Conclusions : These results show that etifoxine can enhance peripheral nerve regeneration across large nerve gaps repaired by acellular nerve grafts by increasing expression of neurotrophins. Muscle Nerve 50:235–243, 2014