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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Combining Peripheral Nerve Grafting and Matrix Modulation to Repair the Injured Rat Spinal Cord
Published on: November 20, 2009
Enhanced aortic nerve growth factor expression and nerve sprouting in rats following gastric perforation
Ming-Shian Tsai1, Ya-Hui Ko, Wen-Ming Hsu
1Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
Nerve growth factor (NGF) up-regulation during inflammation has been demonstrated to occur in several different tissues. Herein, the expression of aortic nerve growth factor and its association with nerve sprouting in a rodent model of self-limited peritonitis were investigated.
Materials And Methods:
Male Wistar rats were randomized into one of three groups: gastric perforation (GP), sham group, and GP group treated with methylprednisolone (GP-M). Aortic expression of NGF and growth associated protein 43 (GAP43) were evaluated at several different time points (range, 6 h to 2 wk) after GP or sham.
Results:
Compared with the sham group, expression of NGF was significantly elevated during the inflammatory period (the first week post-GP) in GP rats. The GP group also had enhanced nerve sprouting, which persisted after the peritonitis recovered. Methylprednisolone abrogated NGF up-regulation and nerve sprouting induced by GP.
Conclusions:
GP resulted in up-regulation of aortic NGF that coincided with aortic nerve sprouting. Methylprednisolone effectively blocked GP-induced NGF up-regulation. Further studies are necessary to decipher the causality of these observed changes.
