Abstract

Peripheral nerve damage affects hundreds of thousands of people every year. This study tested the effectiveness of using lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) in combination with nerve growth factor (NGF) to increase the healing rate of damaged left sciatic nerves in female rats. The rats were randomly divided into eight groups: Sham, Right Sciatic, Crush, LPC, LPC-NGF, Crush- LPC, Crush-NGF, and Crush-LPC-NGF. The healing of the nerves was measured by monitoring gait, electrophysiological parameters (compound muscle action potential amplitudes and nerve conductance velocities) and morphological parameters (total fascicular area, total myelinated fiber counts, fiber densities, fiber diameters, and g-ratio). Gait and electrophysiological parameters were measured three times a week. Morphological parameters were measured at three weeks and at six weeks. The LPC and LPC-NGF groups were not statistically different from the controls (Sham and Right Sciatic) at either of the morphological time points but were statistically different from the controls for the first three weeks for the electrophysiological parameters and gait. The LPC-NGF group did not differ from the LPC group at any time point for any of the parameters. Crush, Crush-LPC, Crush-NGF, and Crush-LPC-NGF groups statistically differed from the controls at week 3 for all parameters and only in the electrophysiological parameters at week 6. Crush-LPC, Crush-NGF, and Crush-LPC-NGF did not differ from each other or from the Crush group. The combination of LPC and NGF did not prove to be an effective treatment for peripheral nerve damage. Future work is recommended to test multiple injections of LPC and NGF.

Degree

College and Department

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Chemical Engineering

Rights

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