Cinnamaldehyde Enhanced Functional Recovery after Sciatic Nerve Crush Injury in Rats

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injury is a common clinical issue induced by trauma, tumor, and damage caused by treatment. Such factors create chemical and inflammatory alterations at the injury site, which increase nerve deterioration. Thus, minimizing these modifications can lead to nerve protection after injury. The present study sought to evaluate the possible improvement in nerve regeneration and enhancement of functional outcomes by cinnamaldehyde (Cin) administration following sciatic nerve crush in a rat model. Rats (n = 48) were distributed into 6 groups, including sham, injury, DMSO (vehicle group), and Cin groups (10, 30, and 90 mg/kg/day). Using small hemostatic forceps, crush injury was induced in the left sciatic nerve. Thereafter, Cin was administered for 28 successive days. Weekly records were taken for sciatic functional index (SFI) measurements. Further assessments including electrophysiological and histomorphometric evaluations, gastrocnemius muscle wet weight measurements, and estimation of the serum total oxidant status were performed. According to the results, Cin could accelerate sciatic nerve recovery after crush injury, and the dose of 30 mg/kg/day of Cin had better impacts on SFI recovery, muscle mass ratio, and myelin content. The current research demonstrated that Cin positively affects peripheral nerve restoration. Therefore, Cin therapy could be considered as a potential treatment method for peripheral nerve regeneration and its functional recovery. However, more investigations are required to further validate the study results and evaluate the optimal dose of Cin.

Comparative neuroprotective effects of Cerebrolysin, dexamethasone, and ascorbic acid on sciatic nerve injury model: Behavioral and histopathological study

“…Motor function recovery was appraised using the SFI as previously described ( Jahromi et al, 2020 ). Rats were permitted to pass along a wooden passage (8.2 cm width and 42 cm long) toward the end of a dark enclosure to collect at least five footprints after their hind paw legs had been dipped in blue ink.…”

“…The LFB color intensity and immune positive reaction of S100, BAX, and BCL2 were analyzed using Image-J (Fiji is just). For analyzing LFB sections, we used the tool color histogram measuring the color intensity ( Jahromi et al, 2020 ), taking into account that S100 immune positive reaction was presented in Schwan cells forming the myelin sheet and that BCL2 and Bax immune-positive reaction was observed in both cytoplasm and nuclei of the nerve cells. For the analysis of the immune positive reaction, we used the color deconvolution icon from the image and then measured the area percentage of brown color using the threshold tool as described by Heddleston et al (2021) .…”

Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL)-Amnion Nanofibrous Membrane Promotes Nerve Regeneration and Prevents Fibrosis in a Rat Sciatic Nerve Transection Model

“…Muscle blood was absorbed and the gastrocnemius muscle weight was recorded. The wet weight recovery ratio was calculated as (gastrocnemius muscle wet weight on the operated side/ gastrocnemius muscle wet weight on the non-operated side) × 100% (34). Histological analysis was performed for a morphological assessment of gastrocnemius muscle atrophy.…”