Experimental Study Of Ganglioside On The Regeneration Of Nerve Allografts In Rabbits

Objective: To study the effects of ganglioside (GM1) on the regeneration of nerve allografts after cryomanagement in rabbits.Methods: Thirty-six health adult New Zealand white rabbits were used in this study.Four rabbits were selected as donors.Bilateral sciatic nerves were taken out from the rabbits and cryopreserved in a -80℃ refrigerator for 2 weeks.The other of thirty-two rabbits as recipients were divided into two groups (experiment and control) randomly.Each group was divided into four subgroups 10mm defects was created in left sciatic nerve , the experiment and control of the nerve allograft for bridging the defect of peripheral nerves was done after rapid thawing.Then management as follow:The experiment:local injecting GM1 (1mg/d×14).The control: not any management. Regeneration of the sciatic nerve for all animals were examined electrophysiologically,hislologically, and immunologically.Results: In immunological test, the statistical difference of CD4,CD8, CD4/CD8, CD25 in the experiment and control group was not significant(P>0.05) in 12 weeks after surgery. This implied that two groups were similar in immunological reaction and immunological response. The acute reject reaction was not found. The statistical difference of nerve conduction velocity(NCV) in the two groups was significant in 12 weeks after operation(P<0.05). NCV in the experiment group was faster than that in the control group. The statistical difference of action potential and conduction latency period in the two groups was not significant.(P>0.05) No difference was found in 2,4,8 weeks(P>0.05). In 4,8,12 weeks after operation,the statistical difference of Guadros index in the two groups was significant(P<0.01). The Guadros index in the experiment group was higher than that in the control group. The image pattern analysis showed: in 12 weeks after operation, the number , diameter , myline sheath , thicken and axonal diameter of the regenerating myellinated nerve in the experiment was greater than those in the control. Significant difference was found(P<0.05). There was no difference between two groups in 2,4,8 weeks after operation(P>0.05).The regeneration were evident in two groups under the observation of optical and electronic microscrope. Nerve regeneration in the experiment group was superior to that in the control group.Conclusions:The cryomanaged nerve allografts can repair defects of peripheral nerve . In the condition of no using immunosuppressive agent, it is viable in short period in rabbits.The results reveal that ganglioside stimulated the regeneration of allograft nerves.