Combining acellular nerve allografts with brain-derived neurotrophic factor transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells restores sciatic nerve injury better than either intervention alone

In this study, we chemically extracted acellular nerve allografts from bilateral sciatic nerves, and repaired 10-mm sciatic nerve defects in rats using these grafts and brain-derived neurotrophic factor transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Experiments were performed in three groups: the acellular nerve allograft bridging group, acellular nerve allograft + bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells group, and the acellular nerve allograft + brain-derived neurotrophic factor transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells group. Results showed that at 8 weeks after bridging, sciatic functional index, triceps wet weight recovery rate, myelin thickness, and number of myelinated nerve fibers were significantly changed in the three groups. Variations were the largest in the acellular nerve allograft + brain-derived neurotrophic factor transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells group compared with the other two groups. Experimental findings suggest that chemically extracted acellular nerve allograft combined nerve factor and mesenchymal stem cells can promote the restoration of sciatic nerve defects. The repair effect seen is better than the single application of acellular nerve allograft or acellular nerve allograft combined mesenchymal stem cell transplantation.