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Etifoxine provides benefits in nerve repair with acellular nerve grafts
Xiang Zhou1, Bo He, Zhaowei Zhu
1Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Introduction:
Acellular nerve grafts are good candidates for nerve repair, but the clinical outcome of grafting is not always satisfactory. We investigated whether etifoxine could enhance nerve regeneration.
Methods:
Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: (1) autograft; (2) acellular nerve graft; and (3) acellular nerve graft plus etifoxine. Histological and electrophysiological examinations were performed to evaluate the efficacy of nerve regeneration. Walking-track analysis was used to examine functional recovery. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate changes in mRNA level.
Results:
Etifoxine: (i) increased expression of neurofilaments in regenerated axons; (ii) improved sciatic nerve regeneration measured by histological examination; (iii) increased nerve conduction velocity; (iv) improved walking behavior as measured by footprint analysis; and (v) boosted expression of neurotrophins.
Conclusions:
These results show that etifoxine can enhance peripheral nerve regeneration across large nerve gaps repaired by acellular nerve grafts by increasing expression of neurotrophins.
