Functional Recovery after Peripheral Nerve Repair Associated with Transplanted Bone Marrow, Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells, and Platelet-Enriched Plasma

Evidence of the regenerative potential of stem cells in some tissue injuries has supported an enormous effort devoted to research on their effect in promoting end- organ reinnervation after peripheral nerve injuries. Some studies have shown that platelet-enriched plasma (PEP) can promote tissue regeneration. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of adult bone marrow stem cells (BMSC), platelet enriched plasma, and the association of both preparations in promoting peripheral nerve regeneration.

Forty-eight female adult Wistar rats were anesthetized. A 10-mm segment of the sciatic nerve was resected and the defect immediately reconstructed: Group 1: empty tube (ET); Group 2: bone marrow stem cells (BMSC); Group 3: platelet-enriched plasma (PEP); Group 4: association of BMSC and PEP. In Group 5, the gap was bridged utilizing the resected segment of the nerve as an autograft (AG).

The SFIs of the different experimental groups were compared using analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey's test. In all statistical analyses, p < 0.05 was taken as being statistically significant. The animals were sacrificed just after the walking tracks were obtained.

Group 2 obtained the best scores at the walking track analysis. It was followed by Groups 3 and 4 whose results were statistically equivalent. The next best result was observed in Group 5 and, last, Group 1 obtained the poorerest scores.

The results of this study suggest that the use of rat bone marrow adult mesenchymal stem cells within the lumen of artificial nerve interpositions promotes end-organ reinnervation in acute peripheral nerve injuries with loss of substance.