Abstract:

BACKGROUND: It is decisive for limb transplantation carrying out extensively in the clinic whether the immunotolerance and function recovery can be achieved effectively.    
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of short-term immunosuppression therapy on nerve regeneration and functional recovery following limb transplantation. 
METHODS: Thirty adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. Short-term group: rats received immunosuppression therapy for 14 days after limb transplantation. Long-term group: rats received received immunosuppression therapy for 4 weeks after limb transplantation. Control group: rats received intraperitoneal injection of physiological saline after transplantation. The nerve regeneration and functional recovery were evaluated using footprint analysis, immunohistochemistry and histological observation. 
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There was no obvious difference between the short- and long-term groups in functional recovery (P > 0.05), both of which were superior to the control group (P < 0.05). Results of histological observation suggested that neural functional recovery of the short-term group was better than that of the control group (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences between the short- and long-term groups in nerve regeneration. Three animals die due to immunosuppressant in the long-term group, no animal lost in the other two groups. The results demonstrated that, short-term immunosuppression therapy can mitigate immunological rejection, improve microenvironment for peripheral nerves regeneration, increase recovery rate and quantity, and reduce adverse reaction, thus, it has a potential for clinical application.