Functional histopathological and morphometric study of the use of gangliosides in nerve regeneration in rats after axonotmesis

The purpose of the present functional, histopathological and morphometric study was to evaluate, qualitatively and quantitatively, the function of gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GD1b e GT1b) in peripheral nerve regeneration. An experimental model was used with 96 male albino Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus, Muridae). After the sciatic nerves of young adults had been crushed for 2 min using haemostatic tweezers, the rats were divided into experimental and control groups. The 48 animals in the experimental group received subcutaneous dorsal injections of gangliosides for 15 days after the surgical action, while the 48 control animals were injected with a saline solution. A functional, histopathological and morphometric evaluation of the sciatic function index (SFI) was made on 12 rats from both groups at 8, 15, 30 and 60 days. As a result of the methodology employed and the functional, histopathology and morphometric analyses, it was concluded that the administration of exogenous gangliosides seems to enhance nerve regeneration, because it stimulated the proliferation of Schwann cells and perhaps reduced the presence of inflammatory ones, seeming to promote nerve regeneration after axonotmesis.