Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41940, Republic of Korea.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Gyeongnam 50612, Republic of Korea.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2021 Jun;246(11):1287-1296. doi: 10.1177/1535370221996655. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
This experimental research aimed to investigate the effects of non-thermal plasma on nerve regeneration after transected nerve damage using the sciatic nerve in Wistar albino (A) rats. The experiments were performed on 27 Wistar A rats. The rats underwent surgery for right sciatic nerve exposure and were divided into three groups (each group, = 9) according to sciatic nerve transected injury (SNTI) and non-thermal plasma application: a non-nerve damage (non-ND) group, a only nerve damage without non-thermal plasma application (ND) group, and a nerve damage with non-thermal plasma application (ND + NTP) group. Subsequent to SNTI and immediate suture, non-thermal plasma was administered three times per week for eight weeks. Evaluation for functional recovery was performed using the static sciatic index measured over the full treatment period of eight weeks. The sciatic nerve specimens were obtained after euthanasia and third day from the last non-thermal plasma application. The sciatic nerve tissues were subjected to histological analysis. Behavior analysis presented that the ND + NTP group showed improved static sciatic index compared with the nerve damage group. Histopathological findings demonstrated that the ND + NTP group had more dense Schwann cells and well-established continuity of nerve fibers, greater than the nerve damage group. Immunohistochemistry showed that the ND + NTP group had increased levels of markers for microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), tau, S100 calcium-binding protein B, and neurofilament-200 and regulated the overexpression of CD68 and MAP2. These results indicated that non-thermal plasma enhanced the motor function and restored the neuronal structure by accelerating myelination and axonal regeneration. Additionally, non-thermal plasma was confirmed to have a positive effect on the recovery of SNTI in rats.
本实验研究旨在探讨非热等离子体对 Wistar 白化（A）大鼠坐骨神经横断损伤后神经再生的影响。实验在 27 只 Wistar A 大鼠中进行。大鼠行右侧坐骨神经暴露手术，根据坐骨神经横断损伤（SNTI）和非热等离子体应用分为三组（每组，n=9）：无神经损伤（非-ND）组、仅神经损伤无非热等离子体应用（ND）组和神经损伤与非热等离子体应用（ND+NTP）组。SNTI 后立即缝合，每周应用非热等离子体 3 次，共 8 周。在 8 周的完整治疗期间，通过静态坐骨指数测量评估功能恢复情况。在安乐死后和最后一次非热等离子体应用后的第 3 天获取坐骨神经标本。对坐骨神经组织进行组织学分析。行为分析显示，ND+NTP 组的静态坐骨指数较神经损伤组有所改善。组织病理学发现，ND+NTP 组的施万细胞更密集，神经纤维连续性更好，优于神经损伤组。免疫组织化学显示，ND+NTP 组微管相关蛋白 2（MAP2）、tau、S100 钙结合蛋白 B 和神经丝-200 的标志物水平升高，并调节 CD68 和 MAP2 的过表达。这些结果表明，非热等离子体通过加速髓鞘形成和轴突再生，增强运动功能并恢复神经元结构。此外，非热等离子体被证实对大鼠 SNTI 的恢复具有积极作用。
