Preliminary histoenzymatic muscular evaluations after ischemia-reperfusion damage.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the muscular regenerative properties after an induced ischemia/reperfusion injury of 4 hours and 30 min. of the left hind limb of the rat and to evaluate and compare the efficacy of native and modified polyethylene glycol superoxide dismutase (SOD and mPEG-SOD). In particular, we try to find a suitable method to study the histological and histoenzymatic properties of muscular fibres, focusing also the technical procedure employed to evaluate the new activated motor end-plates. Biopsies from flexor digitorum superficialis were collected immediately after the ischemia/reperfusion damage and also at 4th, 6th and 10th days. The adopted protocol showed a good reliability both for the necrosis and the regenerative process evaluations. However the assessment of regenerative and reinnervative processes will be completed by histomorphometric analysis.