Combination therapy using evening primrose oil and electrical stimulation to improve nerve function following a crush injury of sciatic nerve in male rats

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 458 - 463
• Main Authors: Badri, Omid, Shahabi, Parviz, Abdolalizadeh, Jalal, Alipour, Mohammad Reza, Veladi, Hadi, Farhoudi, Mehdi, Zak, Mohsen Sharif
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.03.2017; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,International Branch Aras,Tabriz,Iran%Neuroscience Research Center,Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,Tabriz,Iran%Immunology Research Center,Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,Tabriz,Iran%Drug Applied Research Center,Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,Tabriz,Iran%Microsystem Fabrication Laboratory,Tabriz University,Tabriz,Iran%Department of Biochemistry,Faculty of Medicine,Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,Tabriz,Iran; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Antigens; Care and treatment; Combination therapy; Diabetes; Diabetic neuropathy; Fingers & toes; Health aspects; Laboratory animals; Nerve degeneration; nerve regeneration; peripheral nerve injury; sciatic nerve injury; evening primrose oil; electrical stimulation; sciatic functional index; cuff electrode; neural regeneration; Neural stimulation; Surgery; 免疫组织化学方法; 坐骨神经; 外周神经损伤; 大鼠; 月见草油; 电刺激; 神经功能; 联合治疗; United States; Iran; evening primrose oil; electrical stimulation; neural regeneration; sciatic nerve injury; cuff electrode; nerve regeneration; peripheral nerve injury; sciatic functional index
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.202927

Peripheral nerve injuries with a poor prognosis are common.Evening primrose oil（EPO） has beneficial biological effects and immunomodulatory properties.Since electrical activity plays a major role in neural regeneration,the present study investigated the effects of electrical stimulation（ES）,combined with evening primrose oil（EPO）,on sciatic nerve function after a crush injury in rats.In anesthetized rats,the sciatic nerve was crushed using small haemostatic forceps followed by ES and/or EPO treatment for 4 weeks.Functional recovery of the sciatic nerve was assessed using the sciatic functional index.Histopathological changes of gastrocnemius muscle atrophy were investigated by light microscopy.Electrophysiological changes were assessed by the nerve conduction velocity of sciatic nerves.Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the remyelination of the sciatic nerve following the interventions.EPO ＋ ES,EPO,and ES obviously improved sciatic nerve function assessed by the sciatic functional index and nerve conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve at 28 days after operation.Expression of the peripheral nerve remyelination marker,protein zero（P0）,was increased in the treatment groups at 28 days after operation.Muscle atrophy severity was decreased significantly while the nerve conduction velocity was increased significantly in rats with sciatic nerve injury in the injury ＋ EPO ＋ ES group than in the EPO or ES group.Totally speaking,the combined use of EPO and ES may produce an improving effect on the function of sciatic nerves injured by a crush.The increased expression of P0 may have contributed to improving the functional effects of combination therapy with EPO and ES as well as the electrophysiological and histopathological features of the injured peripheral nerve.