|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
|
Manual Stimulation of the Suprahyoid-Sublingual Region Diminishes Polynnervation of the Motor Endplates and Improves Recovery of Function After Hypoglossal Nerve Injury in Rats
Emilia Evgenieva, PhD1,
Patrick Schweigert2,
Orlando Guntinas-Lichius, MD, PhD3,
Stoyan Pavlov, MD4,
Maria Grosheva, MD5,
Srebrina Angelova, MD5,
Michael Streppel, MD, PhD5,
Andrey Irintchev, MD, PhD6,
Emmanouil Skouras, MD7,
Stefanie Kuerten, MD2,
Nektarios Sinis, MD8,
Sarah Dunlop, PhD9,
Victoria Radeva, MD, PhD10,
and
Doychin N. Angelov, MD, PhD2*
1 Sofia University, Bulgaria, Faculty of Pre-School and Primary School Education
2 Department of Anatomy I University of Cologne, Germany
3 Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, University of Jena, Germany
4 Department of Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, Medical University Varna, Bulgaria
5 Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, University of Cologne, Germany
6 Centre for Molecular Neurobiology, University of Hamburg, Germany
7 Department of Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Cologne, Germany
8 Department of Hand, Plastic, and Reconstructive Surgery with Burn Unit, BG-Trauma Centre, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
9 School of Animal Biology and Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia
10 Faculty of Pre-School and Primary School Education, Sofia University, Bulgaria
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: angelov.anatomie{at}uni-koeln.de.
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Background. Using the rat facial nerve axotomy model, the authors recently showed that manual stimulation of denervated whiskerpad muscles reduced the posttransectional polyinnervation at the neuromuscular junctions and promoted full recovery of vibrissal whisking. Objective. Prompted by implications for rehabilitation therapy, the authors examined whether manual stimulation of denervated supra- and infrahyoid muscles would also improve recovery after unilateral lesion on the hypoglossal nerve. Methods. Adult rats underwent transection of the right hypoglossal nerve. Half of the animals received no postoperative treatment, and the other half were subjected to daily manual stimulation of the suprahyoid/sublingual region for 2 months. Recovery was assessed by measuring the angle of tongue-tip deviation from the midline, degree of collateral axonal branching at the lesion site (counts after retrograde labeling with 2 fluorescent dyes), synaptic input to the hypoglossal motoneurons using synaptophysin immunocytochemistry, tongue-muscles motor representation in the cerebral cortex after c-Fos immunocytochemistry, and portion of polyinnervated neuromuscular junctions. Results. In animals receiving manual stimulation, the tongue-tip deviation was 37.0±49.37°, whereas values in control nonstimulated rats were significantly higher (50.1±9.01°; P<.05; mean±SD). Improved recovery was not associated with reduced collateral axonal branching; there were also no differences in tongue-muscles representation in the motor cortex. However, manual stimulation restored the total synaptic input to levels in intact animals and reduced the proportion of polyinnervated neuromuscular junctions compared with nonstimulated animals. Conclusion. The data show that manual stimulation of denervated muscles improves functional outcome following peripheral nerve injury. This suggests immediate potential for enhancing clinical rehabilitation strategies.
First published on July 8, 2008, doi:10.1177/1545968308316387
Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2008;22:754.
A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2008
 CiteULike  Complore  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter What's this?
|
|
