Objectives: Nerve regeneration after peripheral nerve injury is a slow process with a limited degree of functional recovery, resulting ina high disability rate. Thus, accelerating the rate of nerve regeneration and improving the degree of nerve repair is a clinical challenge. This study aimed to investigate the role of growth factor gel combined with small‐gap nerve anastomosis in the regeneration of sciatic nerve injury in rats. This was achieved by injecting nerve growth factor(NGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor(bF GF) gel into a silicon chamber that bridged the transection of the nerve. Methods: In 27 randomly chosen Sprague Dawley rats, a sharp blade was used to transect the right hind leg sciatic nerve. The rats were divided into 3 groups: in groups A and B, silicon tubes containing NGF and bF GF gel or saline, respectively, were used to bridge the nerve proximal and distal ends(3‐mm gap), and in group C, the nerve proximal and distal ends were directly sutured. Eight weeks after surgery, the sciatic nerve function index, neural electrophysiology, and muscle wet weight as well as histological, ultrastructural, and immunohistochemical parameters were evaluated.Results: The sciatic nerve function index, nerve conduction velocity, muscle wet weight,density of regenerated nerve fibers, and myelination in group A were better than those in group Bor C, but the sciatic nerve function index, muscle wet weight, and thickness of myelination in the 3 groups were not significantly different3(P > 0.05). There were no significant differences innerve conduction velocitybetween groups A and B(P > 0.05),but it was higher in both groups than that of group C(P < 0.05). The regenerated nerve fiber densityin the 3 groups showed significant differences(P < 0.05). Conclusions: Small‐gap nerve anastomosis can provide a good regenerative microenvironment for rat sciatic nerve regeneration, and the combined strategy of growth factor gel with small‐gap nerve anastomosis appears to havea superior effect on nerve repair.
Xiyuan WangLin ChenHuancong ZuoHuagang LiuLiu JiShanker.Sharma.HariSharma.ArunaQiang Ao
Given the anatomic complexity at the bifurcation point of a nerve trunk,enforced suturing between stumps can lead to misdirection of nerve axons,thereby resulting in adverse consequences.We assumed that Y-tube conduits injected with human umbilical cord stem cells could be an effective method to solve such problems,but studies focused on the best type of Y-tube conduit remain controversial.Therefore,the present study evaluated the applicability and efficacy of various types of Y-tube conduits containing human umbilical cord stem cells for treating rat femoral nerve defects on their bifurcation points.At 12 weeks after the bridging surgery that included treatment with different types of Y-tube conduits,there were no differences in quadriceps femoris muscle weight or femoral nerve ultrastructure.However,the Y-tube conduit group with longer branches and a short trunk resulted in a better outcome according to retrograde labeling and electrophysiological analysis.It can be concluded from the study that repairing a mixed nerve defect at its bifurcation point with Y-tube conduits,in particular those with long branches and a short trunk,is effective and results in good outcomes.
Objective: To invest the dif erences among mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) derived from different tissues and their impacts on clinical applications. Methods: In this study, MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue(AD), umbilical cord tissue(UC), and menstrual blood(Men) and comparedtheir biological characteristics in terms of proliferation capacity, passage capacity, colony formation, and surface markers were compared. Results: The stem cells(SCs) obtained from different sources were all characterized as MSCs, but demonstrated some dif erences. Umbilical cord-derived MSCs(UCMSCs) were able to overcome density inhibition. The proliferation rate decreased in the order UCMSCs> Men SCs> ADSCs, while the colony-forming ability decreased in the order Men SCs> ADSCs> UCMSCs. Based on gene-expression data for MSCs from dif erent sources within the same donor, 768 Men SC genes were found that were specii cally upregulated or downregulated compared with bone marrow-derived MSCs and UCMSCs, most of which were involved in cell function-related pathways. In addition, Men SCs appeared to be superior in terms of immune inl ammation, stress response, and neural dif erentiation potentials, but weaker in terms of osteogenic and chondrogenic dif erentiation capacities, compared with UCMSCs and bone marrow-derived MSCs. Conclusions: Men SCs have higher extraction ei ciency, colony-forming ability, and long time passage capacity. Although the proliferation capacity is inferior to UCMSCs.
It remains unclear whether language tasks in one's first(L1) or second(L2) language can cause stress responses and whether frontal, autonomic and behavioral responses to stressful tasks are correlated. In this study, we studied 22 Chinese subjects whose L2 was English and measured the cerebral blood oxygenation in their frontal lobe by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS) as participants engaged in a mental arithmetic task(MAT) and verbal fluency tasks(VFTs) in L1(Chinese) and L2(English). To examine the activated cortical areas, we estimated the channel location based on Montreal Neurological Institute(MNI) standard brain space by using a probabilistic estimation method. We evaluated heart rate(HR) changes to analyze autonomic nervous system(ANS) functioning. We found that the MAT and VFTs induced greater increases in HR than did the control(Ctrl) task. Furthermore, subjects developed greater increases in HR in the MAT and VFTL2 than they did in the VFTL1. Compared with the Ctrl task, the MAT and both VFTL1 and VFTL2 produced robust and widespread bilateral activation of the frontal cortex. Interestingly, partial correlation analysis indicated that the activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus(LIFG) [Brodmann's area(BA) 47] was consistently correlated with the increases in HR across the three tasks(MAT, VFTL2, and VFTL1), after controlling for the performance data. The present results suggested that a VFT in L2 may be more stressful than in L1. The LIFG may affect the activation of the sympathetic system induced by stressful tasks, including MATs and VFTs.
目的探讨超声引导下星状神经节连续脉冲射频治疗交感型颈椎病的疗效。方法交感型颈椎病患者64例,随机分为对照组与观察组;对照组1%利多卡因9 m L+曲安奈德1 m L给予星状神经节阻滞,观察组1%利多卡因阻滞后超声引导连续脉冲射频2 Hz、20 ms、45 V、42℃和120 s,治疗2个周期。两个周期治疗后立即用超声分别记录两组治疗前与治疗后10 min椎动脉血流指标。于治疗后1周、1月、3月随访两组患者交感神经症状评分对比。结果治疗前观察组、对照组交感神经症状评分分别为6.5±2.4、6.2±1.6,椎动脉血流(35.6±7.3)cm/s、(36.3±4.6)cm/s,两组间无差异。治疗后10min椎动脉血流观察组(46.2±5.2)cm/s与对照组(45.7±3.6)cm/s之间无差异。观察组交感神经症状评分1周、1月、3月分别为3.2±1.2、3.0±1.5、2.6±2.3,对照组分别为3.1±0.6、5.6±2.1、6.4±1.5,1周评分两组间无明显差异(P>0.05),1月、3月评分两组间有显著性差异(P<0.05)。结论超声引导下星状神经节连续脉冲射频治疗交感神经型颈椎病精准安全,疗效长期稳定。
