[Bridging rat sciatic nerve defects with the composite nerve-muscle autografts wrapped with human amnion matrix membrane].

Objective: To explore the possibility of bridging the sciatic nerve defects with the composite nerve-muscle (NM) autografts wrapped with human amnion matrix membrane (HAMM) in rats.

Methods: Fifty-four Wistar rats were divided randomly into 3 groups (n = 18), and about 10 mm of right sciatic nerve defects were bridged with the composite NM autografts, the nerve autografts and the denatured skeletal muscle autografts respectively (Group A, B, and C), and all grafts were wrapped with HAMM. After the operation, the regenerated nerves were assessed by Fast blue retrograde tracing, neurofilament (NF) immnohistochemical staining, regenerated axons counting, measuring the diameter and myelin thickness of the regenerated axons, and quantifying the wet weight of tibialis anterior muscle.

Results: In Group A and B, there were more fluorescent-labeled cells in dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord than in Group C. The regenerated NFs were sparse and disordered in Group C, but dense and regular in Group A and B. Group A and Group B showed results superior to Group C as to other histologic and morphologic characters (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between Group A and B (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: The composite NM autografts wrapped with HAMM in this study can well bridge and repair sciatic nerve defects in rats.