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Updated: Aug 24, 2026
Combining Peripheral Nerve Grafting and Matrix Modulation to Repair the Injured Rat Spinal Cord
Published on: November 20, 2009
[An experiment study on repair of peripheral nerve defects by GDNF gene modified Schwann cells]
Ping Ping1, Qing-feng Li, Di-sheng Zhang
1Department of Plastic Surgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200011, China.
Objective:
To investigate an effective treatment of peripheral nerve injuries by means of gene transference.
Methods:
48 adult Wister rats were divided evenly into 3 groups. A 10 mm sciatic nerve gap was created and bridged with a silicone chamber. The silicone chamber was filled with glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF) gene modified Schwann cells(SCs) (group 1), the normal SCs(group 2) and nothing(the control). At 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after the operation, the general and histological observations, the electromyographic and immunohistochemical examinations were performed to the regenerated nerves.
Results:
The GDNF-SCs group was significantly better than the SCs and the control groups in nerve conduction velocity, the number and density of reinnervation, the area of regenerated nerve and the thickness of myelin sheath of the regenerated nerves.
Conclusion:
GDNF gene modified SCs secrete higher levels of neurotrophic factors for a prolonged time, which are more effective in peripheral nerve repair than the normal SCs.
