An experimental study on the protective effect of compound Chinese herbs to neurons following sciatic nerve injury in rats

Objective To investigate the protective effect of compound Chinese herbs to the neurons following sciatic nerve injury in rats. Methods Eighteen male Sprague Dawley rats weighing 180 ～ 220g (8 ～ 9 weeks of age) were randomly divided into two groups after the left sciatic nerve was transected, with the proximal stump of sciatic nerve ligated to inhibit nerve regeneration. Postoperatively, compound Chinese herbs was administered daily to rats of the experimental group. For rats of the control group, normal saline was given. The rats were sacrificed on postoperative day 7,14 and 28 respectively. The L 4 ～ L 6 segment of spinal cord and L 5 DRG were harvested. TUNEL technique was used for detection of apoptotic motor and sensory neurons.HE and CV staining was used for counting of motor neurons. Results The apoptotic neurons detected on the 7th and 14th postoperative day were significantly fewer in the experimental group than in the control group ( P 0.05). The difference of the number of apoptotic neurons between two groups was of no statistical significance on postoperative day 28 ( P 0.05). The number of motor neurons was significantly higher in herbs treated group than in control group ( P 0.05). Conclusions Compound Chinese herbs had protective effect to neurons following nerve injury.