Effect of platelet rich plasma and platelet rich fibrin on sciatic nerve regeneration in a rat model

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) on peripheral nerve repair. Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal treatments groups: autologous nerve grafts (ANG), silicon tube plus saline solution (SS), silicon tube plus PRP, and silicon tube plus PRF. In ANG group, 10 mm segment from sciatic nerve was excised and reimplanted between the nerve stumps. In the SS, PRP, and PRF groups, 5 mm segment from sciatic nerve was excised and bridged with a 12 mm silicone conduit to create a 10 mm nerve gap. The conduit was filled in accordance with the different treatments. Walking track analysis was performed periodically and on the 90th post-operative day histomorphometric analysis was performed. The ANG, PRF, and PRP groups presented a significant functional improvement in relation to the SS group (P = 0.001) on 90 days after surgery. Histomorphometric analysis demonstrated that the ANG group achieved a larger nerve fiber diameter in proximal stump while comparing with the SS group (P =0.037) and showed larger fiber diameter in median stump in comparison to the PRP group (P = 0.002) and PRF group (P = 0.001). Axonal diameter and myelin sheath thickness showed no statistical significant difference between the groups in the three stumps (P ≥ 0.05). This study suggests that PRP and PRF have positive effects on the functional nerve recovery; however, these groups don't achieve a significant improvement on the histomorphometric analysis.

Platelet-Rich Plasma Promotes Axon Regeneration, Wound Healing, and Pain Reduction: Fact or Fiction

“…Even if PRP is applied to the exterior site of a rat sciatic nerve crush, significantly greater numbers of axons regenerate longer distances [238]. Similar results are obtained with the application of PRP to the site of a nerve transection and anastomosis of the guinea pig facial nerve [221], rat facial nerve [28], rat sciatic nerve [15,215,219,238], and rat cavernosus nerve [220,221].…”

“…In another study, filling conduits bridging nerve gaps induced equal axon regeneration to fibrin glue, but not more regeneration than a length of autologous sensory nerve [15].…”

The effect of a platelet-rich fibrin conduit on neurosensory recovery following inferior alveolar nerve lateralization: a preliminary clinical study

“…16 The positive effects of growth factors on accelerating nerve healing and regeneration has recently been reported in the literature. [17][18][19] Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is composed of platelet concentrates on fibrin membranes. 20 It possesses high regenerative potential due to the slow release of growth factors, such as transforming growth factor b1, platelet-derived growth factor b, and vascular endothelial growth factor.…”

Trombositten zengin Fibrinin periferik sinir iyileşmesi üzerindeki histopatolojik etkileri

“…Ksilen banyosu sonrası parafin içine gömülen spesmenlerden 4 mikrometrelik (4μm) kesitler alınarak boyandı. 11 .TZF ile TZP nin karşılaştırıldığı bir çalışmada 10 mm kadar olan defektlerde her iki materyalin de sinir iyileşmesini desteklediği gösterilmiştir 12 . TZP fibrin membran ile yapılan bir rat siyatik sinir çalışmasında 6 haftanın sonunda elektrofizyolojik olarak anlamlı iyileşme bulunurken histolojik olarak aksonal rejenerasyonun arttığı ve adeta sinir iyileşmede yol gösterici özellikte olduğu belirtilmiştir 13 .Gerek çalışma süresi gerekse elde edilen histolojik sonuçlar bakımından çalışmamız literatürle uyumlu bulunmuştur.…”