A comparison of lysophosphatidylcholine and crush injury in a rat model of sciatic nerve regeneration

This study examined the effect of using lysophosphatidyl choline(LPC) in combination with a nerve crush injury on the healing rate of damaged left sciatic nerves in female rats. The rats were divided randomly into four groups: Control, LPC, Crush or Crush+ LPC. The Control group was the undamaged right sciatic nerve. The other groups were the damaged left sciatic nerve. The healing of the nerves was measured by monitoring gait, electrophysiological parameters: compound muscleaction potential (CMAP) amplitudes and nerve conductance velocities (NCV); and morphological parameters: total fascicular area, total myelinated fiber counts, fiber densities, fiber diameters, and g-ratio. Gait and electrophysiological parameters were measured three times a week. Morphological parameters were measured at three weeks and at six weeks. The LPC group was statistically different from the Control group for the first three weeks for the electrophysiological parameters and gait, but was not statistically different from the control at either of the morphological time points. The Crush and Crush+ LPC groups were statistically different from the Control group at week3 forall parameters and only differed from the Control group in theelectrophysiological parameter at week 6.The Crush and Crush+ LPC groups did not differ from each other in any parameter at any time point. This study demonstrated that a combination of LPC and Crush did not compound the damage to the nerve, and did not add or subtract healing time to the injury from a Crush.