Protective effect of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor infused into the tube setted into cavitas subarachnoidealis on spinal front corner motor neurons

Objective:To investigate the effect of exogenous glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF) infused into the cavitas subarachnoidealis on cornu anterius medullae spinalis motor neurons after sciatic nerve axotomy.Methods:Forty eight healthy SD rats were divided into 2 groups randomly:GDNF group and NS group.The left sciatic nerve in rats were cut off.And then 0.9% saline(6 μl) and GDNF solution(6 μl) were injected into cavitas subarachnoidealis at L4-L6 in NS group and GDNF group,respectively.The rats were sacrificed on postoperative 1,2,4 and 8 weeks respectively.Their specimen of L4-L6 spinal cord were taken at different time and sectioned.The HE staining,Nissl staining and cholinesterase(ChE) staining in motor neurons were used for counting of motor neurons.Results:In GDNF group the number of motor neurons in cornu anterius medullae spinalis and the ChE activity were higher than that of NS group.Conclusion:The exogenous GDNF infused into the cavitas subarachnoidealis are supposed to protect the degenerated spinal motor neuron from death after sciatic nerve injury.