Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve

Nerve defect is a relatively serious injury in peripheral nerve injury, which often leads to the neuron apoptosis of the corresponding spinal cord segment and the difficulty of long-distance regeneration of the damaged nerve fibers, collectively resulting in poor recovery of nerve function after sur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu Cheng, Fanqi Meng, Zhanmou Liang, Xin Zhou, Wenya Pei, Jingwen Ruan, Xiaozhou Lu, Ying Ding, Guanheng He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:IBRO Neuroscience Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667242125000697
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850102913821573120
author Yu Cheng
Fanqi Meng
Zhanmou Liang
Xin Zhou
Wenya Pei
Jingwen Ruan
Xiaozhou Lu
Ying Ding
Guanheng He
author_facet Yu Cheng
Fanqi Meng
Zhanmou Liang
Xin Zhou
Wenya Pei
Jingwen Ruan
Xiaozhou Lu
Ying Ding
Guanheng He
author_sort Yu Cheng
collection DOAJ
description Nerve defect is a relatively serious injury in peripheral nerve injury, which often leads to the neuron apoptosis of the corresponding spinal cord segment and the difficulty of long-distance regeneration of the damaged nerve fibers, collectively resulting in poor recovery of nerve function after surgery. All experimental rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: Control, Conduit, Local acupoints electroacupuncture (EA) (Local-EA), and governor vessel (GV) combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture (GV+Local-EA) groups. A 10-mm defect model was established in the left median nerve, and a chitosan nerve conduit was used to bridge the defect. After 4 weeks, nerve regeneration and functional recovery were evaluated using immunofluorescence histochemistry, behavioral assays, and electrophysiological measurements. Results showed that the GV+Local-EA group exhibited significantly elevated the number of ChAT-positive motor neurons and enhanced the GDNF expression within the C8 spinal cord anterior horn compared with other experimental groups (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the density of NF-positive nerve fibers and S100β-positive Schwann cells in the middle and distal parts of the transplanted conduits was significantly higher in the GV+Local-EA group than in other groups (P < 0.05). The behavioral improvements and the median nerve conduction complex action potential were significantly better in the GV+Local-EA group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that GV combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture can prevent the loss of spinal motor neurons and upregulating the GDNF expression, and then facilitates the regeneration of damaged median nerve fibers along the Schwann cell-formed Bungner band toward the distal end, thereby accelerating functional recovery of the affected forelimb and demonstrating superior therapeutic efficacy compared with conventional local acupoint protocols.
format Article
id doaj-art-29a3fa8bf799419db8f2f5b6caba3218
institution DOAJ
issn 2667-2421
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series IBRO Neuroscience Reports
spelling doaj-art-29a3fa8bf799419db8f2f5b6caba32182025-08-20T02:39:40ZengElsevierIBRO Neuroscience Reports2667-24212025-06-011881482210.1016/j.ibneur.2025.05.003Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerveYu Cheng0Fanqi Meng1Zhanmou Liang2Xin Zhou3Wenya Pei4Jingwen Ruan5Xiaozhou Lu6Ying Ding7Guanheng He8Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; The Brainstem Group, Institute for Cell Biology and Neurobiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaAdvanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Institute of Spinal Cord Injury, Sun Yat-sen Memorial hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Correspondence to: 74# Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510080, China.Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Department of Acupuncture, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Correspondence to: 58# Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510080, China.Nerve defect is a relatively serious injury in peripheral nerve injury, which often leads to the neuron apoptosis of the corresponding spinal cord segment and the difficulty of long-distance regeneration of the damaged nerve fibers, collectively resulting in poor recovery of nerve function after surgery. All experimental rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: Control, Conduit, Local acupoints electroacupuncture (EA) (Local-EA), and governor vessel (GV) combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture (GV+Local-EA) groups. A 10-mm defect model was established in the left median nerve, and a chitosan nerve conduit was used to bridge the defect. After 4 weeks, nerve regeneration and functional recovery were evaluated using immunofluorescence histochemistry, behavioral assays, and electrophysiological measurements. Results showed that the GV+Local-EA group exhibited significantly elevated the number of ChAT-positive motor neurons and enhanced the GDNF expression within the C8 spinal cord anterior horn compared with other experimental groups (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the density of NF-positive nerve fibers and S100β-positive Schwann cells in the middle and distal parts of the transplanted conduits was significantly higher in the GV+Local-EA group than in other groups (P < 0.05). The behavioral improvements and the median nerve conduction complex action potential were significantly better in the GV+Local-EA group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that GV combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture can prevent the loss of spinal motor neurons and upregulating the GDNF expression, and then facilitates the regeneration of damaged median nerve fibers along the Schwann cell-formed Bungner band toward the distal end, thereby accelerating functional recovery of the affected forelimb and demonstrating superior therapeutic efficacy compared with conventional local acupoint protocols.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667242125000697Median nerve defectChitosan conduitSpinal cord neuronsGovernor VesselElectroacupuncture
spellingShingle Yu Cheng
Fanqi Meng
Zhanmou Liang
Xin Zhou
Wenya Pei
Jingwen Ruan
Xiaozhou Lu
Ying Ding
Guanheng He
Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
IBRO Neuroscience Reports
Median nerve defect
Chitosan conduit
Spinal cord neurons
Governor Vessel
Electroacupuncture
title Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
title_full Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
title_fullStr Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
title_full_unstemmed Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
title_short Governor Vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
title_sort governor vessel combined with local acupoints electroacupuncture improves the therapeutic effect of nerve conduit transplantation bridging long segment defects of the median nerve
topic Median nerve defect
Chitosan conduit
Spinal cord neurons
Governor Vessel
Electroacupuncture
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667242125000697
work_keys_str_mv AT yucheng governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT fanqimeng governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT zhanmouliang governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT xinzhou governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT wenyapei governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT jingwenruan governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT xiaozhoulu governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT yingding governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve
AT guanhenghe governorvesselcombinedwithlocalacupointselectroacupunctureimprovesthetherapeuticeffectofnerveconduittransplantationbridginglongsegmentdefectsofthemediannerve