Improvement of peripheral nerve regeneration following immunological demyelination in vivo.

Background: To improve regeneration of the peripheral nervous system, a therapy was utilized in the adult rat sciatic nerve in which nerve regeneration is enhanced following acute crush injury. The authors hypothesized that (1) axon regeneration within a region of injury increases following experimental, immunological demyelination; and (2) regenerated axons partially derive from the proximal motor axons.

Methods: The sciatic nerves of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with a demyelinating agent following crush injury, while the nerves of 10 control rats received a crush injury without therapy.

A novel model to measure the regenerative potential of the peripheral nervous system after experimental immunological demyelination.

Background: Immunological demyelination is a proposed strategy to improve nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous system. To investigate the remyelinating potential of Schwann cells in vivo in the peripheral nervous system, the authors have reproduced and expanded upon a novel model of immunological demyelination in the adult rat sciatic nerve. The authors demonstrate (1) the peripheral nervous system's quantitative, regenerative response to immunological demyelination and (2) whether Schwann cells within a region of demyelination are induced to divide in the presence of demyelinated axons.