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Rat Nerve Regeneration with the Use of a Polymeric Membrane Loaded with NGF

¹ Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université de Lille 2, Place de Verdun, 59000 Lille, France;
² Unité de Neurosciences et Physiologie Adaptatives, UPRES EA 4052, Laboratoire de Plasticité Neuromusculaire, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France; and
³ INSERM Unité 595, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université Louis Pasteur, 11 rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France

^* corresponding author, mathilde.savignat{at}univ-lille2.fr

Exogenous neurotrophic factors, delivered by various systems, are used to improve nerve regeneration. This study tested the effectiveness of a polymeric membrane loaded with Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) on mental nerve regeneration after a crush injury in rats. We tested NGF application, known to play a role in afferent fiber repair in dental neurobiology, to see if it could improve the regeneration. Afferent neurogram recordings and histological analyses of the trigeminal ganglion neurons were performed. One month after the crush injury, early regeneration was observed independently of exogenous NGF. However, as compared with the activity level recorded before the injury, the afferent activity was reduced by 28.5% without NGF, and the mean number of labeled neurons decreased. With NGF, activity was increased by 30.8%, with no significant histological difference compared with animals without lesions. NGF application through a polymeric membrane can influence degenerative and/or regenerative processes after a crush injury.

KEY WORDS: lower lip • neurotrophin • polymeric films • afferent neurograms • trigeminal ganglion