Effect of Stimulation of Nerve Regeneration on Posttraumatic Neuronal Survival in Dorsal Root Ganglia

Abstract

The survival of neurons is a key condition for complete posttraumatic regeneration of the peripheral nerve. In experiments on rats we studied survival capacity of different neuronal subpopulations in L_IV-L_V dorsal root ganglia after ligation or transection and suturing of the sciatic nerve. Experiments with nerve ligation showed that IB4⁺ neurons are more sensitive to the injury than NF200⁺ neurons. By day 90 after ligation of the sciatic nerve IB4⁺ neurons were virtually not detected in the dorsal root ganglia. By day 90 after nerve transection the number of surviving NF200⁺ and IB4⁺ neurons decreased by 26.1 and 21.4%, respectively, in comparison with intact animals. Treatment with xymedon, a regeneration stimulator, led to a 48.5% increase in the number of surviving NF200⁺ neurons by day 30 after ligation of the nerve and a 50.7% increase by day 90. The number of surviving IB4⁺ neurons increased more than 8-fold by this term after ligation of the nerve and drug stimulation. Xymedon had a neuroprotective effect towards both neuron subpopulations, more intensely preventing apoptosis of IB4⁺ neurons.