Comparison of the Effects of Botulinum Toxin Doses on Nerve Regeneration in Rats with Experimentally Induced Sciatic Nerve Injury

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 15; no. 12; p. 691
• Main Authors: Hwang, Seokjoon, Seo, Minsu, Lee, Tae Heon, Lee, Ho Jun, Park, Jin-Woo, Kwon, Bum Sun, Nam, Kiyeun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Action potential; Botulinum toxin; Botulinum toxin type A; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Dosage and administration; Drug dosages; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; functional recovery; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Immunofluorescence; Injuries; Medical research; Myelin; Nerve growth factor; Nerves; Nervous system; neural regeneration; Neurophysiology; Neurotoxins; peripheral nerve injury; Physiological aspects; Proteins; Regeneration; Sciatic nerve; Staining; Toluidine; Toluidine blue; Toxins; Trauma; South Korea; botulinum toxin; peripheral nerve injury; neural regeneration; functional recovery
• ISSN: 2072-6651; 2072-6651
• DOI: 10.3390/toxins15120691

This study was designed to compare the effects of various doses of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) on nerve regeneration. Sixty-five six-week-old rats with sciatic nerve injury were randomly allocated to three experimental groups, a control group, and a sham group. The experimental groups received a single session of intraneural BoNT/A (3.5, 7.0, or 14 U/kg) injection immediately after nerve-crushing injury. The control group received normal intraneural saline injections after sciatic nerve injury. At three, six, and nine weeks after nerve damage, immunofluorescence staining, an ELISA, and toluidine blue staining was used to evaluate the regenerated nerves. Serial sciatic functional index analyses and electrophysiological tests were performed every week for nine weeks. A higher expression of GFAP, S100β, GAP43, NF200, BDNF, and NGF was seen in the 3.5 U/kg and 7.0 U/kg BoNT/A groups. The average area and myelin thickness were significantly greater in the 3.5 U/kg and 7.0 U/kg BoNT/A groups. The sciatic functional index and compound muscle action potential amplitudes exhibited similar trends. These findings indicate that the 3.5 U/kg and 7.0 U/kg BoNT/A groups exhibited better nerve regeneration than the 14 U/kg BoNT/A and control group. As the 3.5 U/kg and the 7.0 U/kg BoNT/A groups exhibited no statistical difference, we recommend using 3.5 U/kg BoNT/A for its cost-effectiveness.