Effects of high fat diet induced obesity on peripheral nerve regeneration and levels of GAP 43 and TGF-β in rats

Abstract

The increasing frequency of obesity is important because of its accompanying related health problems. The effects of obesity on peripheral nerves have not been elucidated. We investigated the effects of obesity on sciatic nerve regeneration using electrophysiology, stereology, immunohistochemistry, histopathology and functional tests. We used control, obese, control injured and obese injured groups of rats. Electrophysiological results showed that nerve conduction velocity and EMG were same in the experimental groups, but the amplitude of the compound action potential of the control group was significantly higher than that of the obese group. Examination of the nerves showed that the control and obese groups had both larger axon diameters and thicker myelin sheaths. The number of myelinated axons was decreased in both of the injured groups. Axon diameters and myelin sheath thicknesses of the control injured group were significantly greater those of the obese injured group. There were no significant differences in functional tests among the groups. Although growth associated protein 43 immunostaining in the control injured group was significantly greater than that of the obese injured group, no significant difference was observed between the control and obese groups. There was no significant difference in immunohistochemical staining for transforming growth factor beta 3 between the control injured and obese injured groups. Our results suggest that obesity may affect peripheral nerve regeneration negatively after crush injury.

Association between recovery from Bell's palsy and body mass index

“…Obesity is caused by complex genetic and environmental factors and has been found to be a risk factor for various diseases, including DM, HTN, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, kidney disease and cancer. Obesity has been reported to reduce the quantity and effectiveness of growth factors, delaying regeneration of damaged sciatic nerves and recovery …”

Useful Functional Outcome Can Be Achieved After Motor Nerve Transfers in Management of the Paralytic Hand. An Observational Study

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Effects of thymoquinone on testicular structure and sperm production in male obese rats

“…Then, sections were washed three times with PBS and incubated with biotinylated anti-rabbit IgG for a period of 30 min at 37 C. Immunological activity was detected with a streptavidin-biotin complex kit (ScyTek Laboratories, SitoGen Biomedikal Ltd; _ Istanbul, Turkey) and developed with diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride. The sections were counterstained with Mayer hematoxylin and images are obtained under a light microscope (Leica LMD 7000, Leica Inc) [Bekar et al 2014]. …”