Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy and Purified Natural Latex () Protein on Injured Sciatic Nerve in Rodents: Morpho-Functional Analysis.

The present study analyzed the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and the purified natural latex protein (, F1 protein) on the morpho-function of sciatic nerve crush injuries in rats. One-hundred and eight male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to six groups ( = 18): 1. Control; 2.

Morphology and morphometry of the ulnar nerve in the forelimb of pigs.

The knowledge of the morphology and morphometry of peripheral nerves is essential for developing neural interfaces and understanding nerve regeneration in basic and applied research. Currently, the most adopted animal model is the rat, even though recent studies have suggested that the neuroanatomy of large animal models is more comparable to humans. The present knowledge of the morphological structure of large animal models is limited; therefore, the present study aims to describe the morphological characteristics of the Ulnar Nerve (UN) in pigs.

Histological and Immunohistochemical Analysis of the Effects of Topical Melatonin Treatment Associated with Collagen Sponge and rhBMP-2 Protein on Bone Remodeling.

Extensive bone defect healing is an important health issue not yet completely resolved. Different alternative treatments have been proposed but, in face of a critical bone defect, it is still very difficult to reach a complete regeneration, with the new-formed bone presenting all morphological and physiological characteristics of a normal, preinjury bone. Topical melatonin use has shown as a promising adjuvant for bone regeneration due to its positive effects on bone metabolism.

Standardized statement for the ethical use of human cadaveric tissues in anatomy research papers: Recommendations from Anatomical Journal Editors-in-Chief.

Human cadaveric donors are essential for research in the anatomical sciences. However, many research papers in the anatomical sciences often omit a statement regarding the ethical use of the donor cadavers or, as no current standardized versions exist, use language that is extremely varied. To rectify this issue, 22 editors-in-chief of anatomical journals, representing 17 different countries, developed standardized and simplified language that can be used by authors of studies that use human cadaveric tissues.

Morphometric analysis of nerve fibers in neural leprosy.

Background: The present study assesses the contributions of axonal degeneration and demyelination in leprosy nerve damage. New clinical strategies can emerge from an in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of neural leprosy (NL).

Methods: Morphometric analysis of myelinated nerve fibers was performed on 44 nerve biopsy samples collected from leprosy patients.

Morphological and molecular analysis of apoptosis in the corpus cavernosum of rats submitted to a chronic alcoholism model.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of chronic alcoholism on morphometry and apoptosis mechanism and correlate with miRNA-21 expression in the corpus cavernosum of rats.

Methods: Twenty-four rats were divided into two experimental groups: Control (C) and Alcoholic group (A). After two weeks of an adaptive phase, rats from group A received only ethanol solution (20%) during 7 weeks.

Sensory and Motor Conduction Velocity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: Sex and Aging Investigation.

The literature is extensive on how hypertension affects the morphology and function of the central nervous system (CNS) and is being focused on multiple organ damage involving the kidneys, heart, endothelium and retina. Hypertension damage to the peripheral nervous system is less explored in the literature. We have previously shown morphometric alterations in large and small caliber myelinated fibers of nerves in the adult spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR).

Growth factors expression and ultrastructural morphology after application of low-level laser and natural latex protein on a sciatic nerve crush-type injury.

The effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and natural latex protein (F1, Hevea brasiliensis) were evaluated on crush-type injuries (15kg) to the sciatic nerve in the expressions of nerve growth factor (NGF) and vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) and ultrastructural morphology to associate with previous morphometric data using the same protocol of injury and treatment. Thirty-six male rats were allocated into six experimental groups (n = 6): 1-Control; 2-Exposed nerve; 3-Injured nerve; 4-LLLT (15J/cm2, 780nm, 30mW, Continuous Wave) treated injured nerve; 5-F1 (0,1mg) treated injured nerve; and 6-LLLT&F1 treated injured nerve. Four or eight weeks after, sciatic nerve samples were processed for analysis.

Substance P in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons in Young and Adult Rats, after Nociceptive Stimulation during the Neonatal Period.

The nervous system is highly plastic during the neonatal period, being sensitive to noxious stimuli, which may cause short- and long-term pain responsivity changes. Understanding plasticity in peripheral pain pathways is crucial, particularly when the nervous system is still under development and remodeling process. Substance P (SP) is widely used as a marker for peripheral neurons with unmyelinated and small myelinated fibers.

Analysis of the variation in low-level laser energy density on the crushed sciatic nerves of rats: a morphological, quantitative, and morphometric study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate three energy densities of low-level laser therapy (LLLT, GaAlAs, 780 nm, 40 mW, 0.04 cm) for the treatment of lesions to peripheral nerves using the sciatic nerve of rats injured via crushing model (15 kgf, 5.2 MPa).

Does Pain in the Neonatal Period Influence Motor and Sensory Functions in a Similar Way for Males and Females During Post-Natal Development in Rats?

OBJECTIVE : Early pain experiences can lead to disruption in the long-term responses to pain and in abnormal development and behavior in rodents. We evaluated the sensory and motor development of Wistar rats after exposure to painful stimulation (repetitive needle prickling) immediately after birth. METHODS : Male and female rats were followed up to 6 months of life, and sensory and motor functions were investigated by testing paw withdrawal with von Frey filaments, calibrated forceps (CF), and grip strength (GS) tests.

Recurrent laryngeal nerve alterations in developing spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Objectives/hypothesis: It is well known that the recurrent laryngeal nerve not only innervates the larynx but also contains baroreceptor fibers, as demonstrated by physiological studies. Because hypertension has a negative impact on both peripheral nerve morphology and the baroreflex, we investigated the recurrent laryngeal nerve morphological alterations related to the development of hypertension.

Methods: We compared morphological and morphometric aspects of different segments of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats in different ages: 5, 8, and 20 weeks (n = 6 per group).

A New Method for Automated Identification and Morphometry of Myelinated Fibers Through Light Microscopy Image Analysis.

Nerve morphometry is known to produce relevant information for the evaluation of several phenomena, such as nerve repair, regeneration, implant, transplant, aging, and different human neuropathies. Manual morphometry is laborious, tedious, time consuming, and subject to many sources of error. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new method for the automated morphometry of myelinated fibers in cross-section light microscopy images.

Association of chronic diabetes and hypertension in sural nerve morphometry: an experimental study.

Background: Prospective studies have shown incidence rates of hypertension in diabetes mellitus to be three times that of subjects without diabetes mellitus. The reverse also applies, with the incidence of diabetes two to three times higher in patients with hypertension. Despite this common clinical association, the contribution of each isolated entity in the development of a neuropathy is still not well understood.

Properties of the tibialis anterior muscle after treatment with laser therapy and natural latex protein following sciatic nerve crush.

Introduction: In this study we evaluated the characteristics of the tibialis anterior muscle after sciatic nerve crush and treatment with low-level laser therapy (LLLT) or the protein from natural latex (P1).

Methods: We studied the following 6 groups of male Wistar rats: control (CG); exposed nerve (EG); injured nerve (IG); injured nerve with LLLT (LG); injured nerve with P1 (PG); and injured nerve with P1 and LLLT (LPG).

Results: After 4 weeks, muscle morphology showed improvement in the treated groups; after 8 weeks, the treated groups resembled controls, especially the PG.

Two-dimensional sample entropy analysis of rat sural nerve aging.

Entropy analysis of images are usually performed using Shannon entropy, which calculates the probability of occurrency of each gray level on the image. However, not only the pixel gray level but also the spatial distribution of pixels might be important for image analysis. On the other hand, sample entropy (SampEn) is an important tool for estimation of irregularity in time series, which calculates the probability of pattern occurrence within the series.

Morphological and morphometric analyses of crushed sciatic nerves after application of a purified protein from natural latex and hyaluronic acid hydrogel.

Hyaluronic acid hydrogels (HAHs) have been used as a carrier of substances and factors in the repair of nervous tissue. Natural latex protein (Hevea brasiliensis, F1) has shown positive effects in treating various types of tissues, including peripheral nerves. This study evaluated the F1 associated with a HAH in a controlled crush injury (axonotmesis) of the sciatic nerve in Wistar rats.

Cortex glial cells activation, associated with lowered mechanical thresholds and motor dysfunction, persists into adulthood after neonatal pain.

We investigated if changes in glial activity in cortical areas that process nociceptive stimuli persisted in adult rats after neonatal injury. Neonatal pain was induced by repetitive needle prickling on the right paw, twice per day for 15 days starting at birth. Wistar rats received either neonatal pain or tactile stimulation and were tested behaviorally for mechanical withdrawal thresholds of the paws and gait alterations, after 15 (P15) or 180 (P180) days of life.

Lack of effectiveness of laser therapy applied to the nerve course and the correspondent medullary roots.

Objective: To investigate the influence of low intensity laser irradiation on the regeneration of the fibular nerve of rats after crush injury.

Methods: Twenty-five rats were used, divided into three groups: 1) intact nerve, no treatment; 2) crushed nerve, no treatment; 3) crush injury, laser irradiation applied on the medullary region corresponding to the roots of the sciatic nerve and subsequently on the course of the damaged nerve. Laser irradiation was carried out for 14 consecutive days.

Renal nerve ultrastructural alterations in short term and long term experimental diabetes.

Background: Despite the evidence that renal hemodynamics is impaired in experimental diabetes, associated with glomeruli structural alterations, renal nerves were not yet investigated in experimental models of diabetes and the contribution of nerve alterations to the diabetic nephropathy remains to be investigated. We aimed to determine if ultrastructural morphometric parameters of the renal nerves are affected by short term and/or long term experimental diabetes and if insulin treatment reverses these alterations. Left renal nerves were evaluated 15 days or 12 weeks (N = 10 in each group) after induction of diabetes, with a single injection of streptozotocin (STZ).

Reproducibility in nerve morphometry: comparison between methods and among observers.

We investigated the reproducibility of a semiautomated method (computerized with manual intervention) for nerve morphometry (counting and measuring myelinated fibers) between three observers with different levels of expertise and experience with the method. Comparisons between automatic (fully computerized) and semiautomated morphometric methods performed by the same computer software using the same nerve images were also performed. Sural nerves of normal adult rats were used.

Sural nerve involvement in experimental hypertension: morphology and morphometry in male and female normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Background: The sural nerve has been widely investigated in experimental models of neuropathies but information about its involvement in hypertension was not yet explored. The aim of the present study was to compare the morphological and morphometric aspects of different segments of the sural nerve in male and female spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Rats aged 20 weeks (N = 6 in each group) were investigated.

Can Wistar rats be used as the normotensive controls for nerve morphometry investigations in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)?

Purpose: We compared the sural nerve morphology among Wistar (WR), Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats, including the nerve fascicles and myelinated fibers morphometry.

Methods: Age matched (20 weeks) female WR (N=6), WKY (N=6) and SHR (N=7) had their right and left sural nerves removed, embedded in epoxy resin, and observed by light microscopy. Morphometric analysis was performed with the aid of computer software.

Methods for exploring the morpho-functional relations of the aortic depressor nerve in experimental diabetes.

The present study investigated morpho-functional relations of the aortic depressor nerve (ADN) 5, 15 and 120 days after the onset of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Time control animals received vehicle. Under pentobarbital anesthesia, ADN activity was recorded simultaneously with arterial pressure.

Arterial diameter of the celiac trunk and its branches. Anatomical study.

Purpose: Despite the fact that anatomical variations of the celiac trunk are well explored in the literature, information on these vessels diameters is scanty. The aims of the present study were to describe the arterial diameters of the celiac trunk and its main branches, and to investigate if these diameters are altered in those cases presenting anatomical variations of these vessels.

Methods: Twenty-one formalin fixed adult male cadavers were appropriately dissected for the celiac trunk identification and arterial diameter measurements.