Enhanced functional recovery from sciatic nerve crush injury through a combined treatment of cold-water swimming and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation

AbstractObjective:Although regimens of stem cell implantation can elicit functional recovery following peripheral nerve injury, the degree of outcome is still limited. This study evaluated the synergistic effects of cold-water swimming (CWS) and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation on functional recovery of crushed sciatic nerve in rats.Method:Forty Sprague-Dawley rats that had their sciatic nerve crushed during surgery were randomly divided into four groups: MSCCWS group, treated with combination of MSC and CWS; MSC group, treated with MSC alone; CWS group, treated with CWS alone; and non-treated group, without any treatments. The sciatic function index (SFI), vertical activity (VA), ankle activity (AA) and electrophysiological study were examined before, immediately after surgery, after the treatment and after 4 weeks from treatment. Morphological and S100 immunohistochemical studies were also performed.Results:The MSCCWS group showed a greater improvement in SFI, VA, AA, peak amplitudes and onse...