Effect of prostaglandin E_1 on repair of sciatic nerve with crushing lesion in rats

Objective To investigate the effect of prostaglandin E1(PGE1) on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and the repair of peripheral nerve with crushing lesion in rats.Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly and equally divided into three groups of A(treated with normal saline),B(treated with PGE1) and C(normal control).The crushing lesion of sciatic nerve model was constructed.The positive neurons of VEGF in dorsal root ganglion after 12 h,72 h and 7 d of crushing lesion and the pathologic changes of dorsal root ganglion on the 4th week were detected by immunohistochemy and electromicroscope,respectively.Results At 72 h after crushing lesion,the positive neurons of VEGF in dorsal root ganglion reached the peak level in groups of A and B,which were greater than those in group C(P0.01).And the positive neurons of VEGF in group B were also greater than those in group A(P0.01).On the 4th week after crushing lesion,there was no obvious pathologic change in group C,while the severity of pathologic outcomes in group B was slighter than that in group A.Conclusion PGE1 can promote the repair of peripheral nerve with crushing lesion,probably via increasing the expression of VEGF.