Evaluation of functional nerve recovery shows that allogeneic nerve graft treated with ICAM-1 and LFA-1 mAbs can be good alternative to syngeneic graft.

The objective of the study is to establish recovery results of tibial nerve defects reconstructed using allogeneic and xenogeneic graft, in host immunosuppressed with Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and Lymphocyte Function Antigen-1 (LFA-1) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). A pilot study was conducted in fifteen Fischer rats by forming a 1 cm right tibial nerve gap, then reconstructing it with 1.2 cm long grafts, namely, Wistar allogeneic, Black mouse xenogeneic, and syngeneic (n=5/group). The main study included forty-eight rats allocated to the following groups (n=12/group): 1) Allograft without treatment as control group. 2) Allograft with intraperitoneal ICAM-1 and LFA-1 mAbs treatment. 3) Allograft preserved in Belzers' solution including ICAM-1 mAbs plus standard intraperitoneal treatment. 4) Syngraft as benchmark. At 3, 6 and 9 weeks postengraftment walking track analysis was performed and expressed as Tibial Functional Index (TFI). Motor and compound nerve action potential across the graft conduction velocities were measured at week 10. Xenograft did not show any functional recovery and was therefore excluded from main study. However, pilot and main study results showed recovery results in both treated allogeneic groups and were comparable to benchmark syngraft. Therefore, allogeneic nerve graft could be an alternative in peripheral nerve reconstruction and spinal cord grafting.