Evaluation of isquiatic nerve regeneration, in SHR rats, using autologous vein graft filled with platelet-rich plasma.

• Grant number: 11/05883-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Joao Baptista Gomes dos Santos
• Grantee: Rodrigo Guerra Sabongi
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In nerve injury with nervous gap, no method was found better than the autograft, however, it has the disadvantage of damaging a normal nerve to be used as graft. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the regeneration of the ischiatic nerve using platelet-rich plasma to fill the autologous vein graft for addressing ischiatic nerve injury of 10 SHR rats, through morphological and morphometric study of the transected nerve, and histological evaluation of spinal segment stained with Fluoro-Gold. The first step consisted in using a 12 mm long vein tube, taken from the jugular vein. The right ischiatic nerve was exposed and performed a resection of 8 mm nerve segment. Gap repair consisted of a usual conventional graft for nervous injury repair by means of microsurgical suture. The other repair was performed using a 8 mm tube of jugular vein graft filled with platelet-rich plasma. After 120 days the animals were reoperated, with exposure and a 1cm resection of the ischiatic nerve. The nerve endings were exposed to the Fluoro-Gold neuronal marker. After 48 hours, the rats were perfused and medullar segment between L3 and S1 was removed and subsequently cut into 40 ¼m sections for microscopic evaluation. The second step consists in counting all the sections of medullar segments and morphological and morphometric analysis of nerve fragments to verify the statistical differences between surgical techniques.