Turkish Neurosurgery 2022 , Vol 32 , Num 2
Thyroxine Accelerates Functional Recovery in a Rat Model of Sciatic Nerve Crush
Mozhdeh AZIMPOUR1,Fariba MAHMOUDI1,Arash ABDOLMALEKI2,Abolfazl BAYRAMI1
1University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Faculty of Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
2University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Department of Engineering Sciences, Namin, Iran
3Sabalan University of Advanced Technologies (SUAT), Bio Science and Biotechnology Research Center (BBRC), Namin, Iran
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.34966-21.4 AIM: To see how thyroxine affects the sensory and motor function of a damaged sciatic nerve in male rats.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Forty adult male Wistar rats were allocated to four groups, 10 individuals each. Then, crush injury was done on the right sciatic nerve in all the groups using a vessel clamp. In thyroxine-treated groups and after the crush, the rats were given regular doses of thyroxine (5 and 10 ?g/kg) for one week intraperitoneally. Negative control group was treated intraperitoneally with distilled water as a vehicle. In sham operated group, only surgical procedures were performed without nerve crush. Then, behavioral, histological, and morphometric parameters were assessed at the regeneration time.

RESULTS: After one week of treatment with thyroxine, the motor function improved significantly following a sciatic nerve crush (P ? 0.05). Also, morphometric parameters and sensory restoration improved in thyroxine-treated groups.

CONCLUSION: Findings of this study showed that neuro-protective effects of thyroxine can be due to the stimulatory effects of thyroxine in myelin sheath formation and increasing the expression of SCG10 protein which is required for the development of growth cones. Keywords : Thyroxine, Sciatic nerve injury, Regeneration

Corresponding author : Fariba MAHMOUDI, f.mahmoudi@uma.ac.ir