Article
The effects of sildenafil on nerve regeneration in a rat model
Search Medline for
Authors
-
Mehmet Fatih Korkmaz
- Inonu University, orthopedics, Malatya, Turkey
-
Hakan Parlakpinar
- Inonu University, pharmacology, Malatya, Turkey
-
Resit Sevimli
- Inonu University, orthopedics, Malatya, Turkey
| Published: | October 5, 2015 |
|---|
Outline
Text
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the histopathological, functional, and bone densitometric effects of sildenafil on nerve regeneration in a rat model of peripheral nerve crush injury.
Methods: The study included a total of 30 adult Sprague-Dawley rats that were divided into three groups of ten rats each. In all rats, a crush injury was created by clamping the right sciatic nerve for one minute. One day before the procedure, rats in Group 1 were started on a 28-day treatment consisting of a daily dose of 20 mg/kg body weight sildenafil given orally via nasogastric tube, while the rats in Group 2 were started on an every-other-day dose of 10 mg/kg body weight sildenafil citrate. Rats from Group 3 were not administered any drugs. Forty-two days after the nerve damage was created, functional and histopathological examination of both sciatic nerves and bone densitometric evaluation of the extremities were conducted.
Results and Conclusion: During the rotarod test, rats from Group 3 spent the least amount of time on the rod compared to the drug treatment groups at speeds of 20 rpm, 30 rpm and 40 rpm. In addition, the duration of stay on the rod during the accelerod test was significantly reduced in rats from Group 3 compared to the rats from Groups 1 and 2 in the 4-min test.
For the hot-plate latency time, there was no difference among the groups in either the basal level or after sciatic nerve injury.
Moreover, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the sciatic functional index (SFI) on the 42nd day (p=0.147). The amplitude was better evaluated in Group 1 compared to the other two groups (p<0.05). Under microscopic evaluation, we observed the greatest amount of nerve regeneration in Group 1 and the lowest in Group 3. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the bone mineral density levels among groups. Within the groups 42 days after the sciatic nerve injury the BMD of the injured femoral diaphysis were significantly reduced by 3.6%, 7.5%, 11.5% in Groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
We believe that a daily single dose of sildenafil plays an important role in the treatment of sciatic nerve damage and bone healing and thus can be used as supportive clinical treatment
