Acceleration of muscle re-innervation in rats by ganglioside treatment: an electromyographic study

The sciatic nerve in the right thigh was divided in 40 rats and the nerve stumps then sewn together with two microsutures. The treated animals, 20 rats, had daily subcutaneous administration of a bovine cortex ganglioside mixture. The controls, 20 rats, received the solvent alone. At 21 days after nerve division it was found that more treated rats than controls had regenerated nerve fibres capable of producing re-innervation potentials in the gastrocnemius muscle. This result supports the view that cortex gangliosides act to accelerate muscle re-innervation.