Angiotensin II accelerates functional recovery in the rat sciatic nerve in vivo: role of the AT2 receptor and the transcription factor NF-κB

SPECIFIC AIMSIt has been reported that the AT2 receptor regulates several functions of nerve cells (e.g., ionic fluxes, cell differentiation, and axonal regeneration) but also modulates programmed cell death. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that angiotensin II (ANG II) via its AT2 receptor not only promotes regeneration, but also functional recovery after sciatic nerve crush in adult rats.PRINCIPAL FINDINGS1. ANG II-treated animals demonstrated an increase of the toe spread distance and an increase of functional recoveryOn day 20 following nerve crush, ANG II-treated animals demonstrated an increase of the toe spread distance that was most visible at a concentration of 10−11 M. At 10−9 M, ANG II also enhanced toe spread distance although to a slightly lesser extend, whereas at 10−7 M ANG II had no effect on nerve regeneration. The NGF group as positive control also showed significantly enhanced toe spread distances compared with the saline-treated group. The effects of exogenous applied ANG ...