Combination therapy of chitosan conduit and naringin facilitate regeneration of injured sciatic nerve in rats

Inhalt:
Objectives: To explore the feasibility of combining chitosan conduits filled with naringin to repair peripheral nerve defects in rats．Methods: A total of 90 Sprague-Dawley rats were used, a 5mm nerve defect was created in left sciatic nerve. The injured rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 30 per group): chitosan conduit alone group (Conduit group), conduit filled with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) group (Conduit+CMC group) and conduit filled with naringin group (Conduit+Naringin group). At 4 and 8 weeks after surgery, the conduction velocity (CV) of sciatic nerve, the myelin areas of the myelinated axons and the content of neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were obtained to make statistical analyses．Results: All rats showed sciatic nerve regeneration. However, the electrophysiological assessment showed that the CV in the Conduit+Naringin group was much higher than Conduit group and Conduit+CMC group, and the same trend was also found for the myelin areas of the μ-elinated axons. Moreover, western blot analysis indicated that Conduit+Naringin treatment induced an increased expression of NGF and BDNF compared to the Conduit group and Conduit+CMC group．Conclusions: Taken together, chitosan conduits combined with naringin could facilitate remyelination in injured sciatic nerves, and the neuroprotective effect may be related to the up-regulation of NGF and BDNF.