Thyroxine Accelerates Functional Recovery in a Rat Model of Sciatic Nerve Crush

AIM: To see how thyroxine affects the sensory and motor function of a damaged sciatic nerve in male rats. MATERIAL and METHODS: Forty adult male Wistar rats were allocated to four groups, 10 individuals each. Then, crush injury was done on the right sciatic nerve in all the groups using a vessel clamp. In thyroxine-treated groups and after the crush, the rats were given regular doses of thyroxine (5 and 10 mu g/kg) for one week intraperitoneally. Negative control group was treated intraperitoneally with distilled water as a vehicle. In sham operated group, only surgical procedures were performed without nerve crush. Then, behavioral, histological, and morphometric parameters were assessed at the regeneration time. RESULTS: After one week of treatment with thyroxine, the motor function improved significantly following a sciatic nerve crush (P = 0.05). Also, morphometric parameters and sensory restoration improved in thyroxine-treated groups. CONCLUSION: Findings of this study showed that neuro-protective effects of thyroxine can be due to the stimulatory effects of thyroxine in myelin sheath formation and increasing the expression of SCG10 protein which is required for the development of growth cones.

Automated summary

The study found that thyroxine treatment significantly improved motor function and sensory restoration in male rats with a crushed sciatic nerve. This suggests that the neuroprotective effects of thyroxine may be due to its stimulatory effects on myelin sheath formation and the expression of the SCG10 protein.