Recovery from peripheral nerve transection is accelerated by local application of α-MSH by means of microporous Accurel® polypropylene tubes

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Abstract

The peptide hormone α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), accelerates the return of sensitivity to the rat hindpaw after nerve transection. A marked reduction in the recovery time is observed when α-MSH is applied locally to the repair site by means of the microporous Accurel® polypropylene tube delivery system. The tubes alone have a significant but smaller beneficial effect. These results have implications for the mode of action of neurotrophic melanocortins and suggest a potential means of improving the outcome of surgical nerve repair in the clinic.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    Further research has shown that the high doses of MP required to inhibit lipid peroxidation also exert a number of other actions on the injured spinal cord that almost certainly contribute to an attenuation of post-traumatic neuronal damage (e.g., reduction in ischemic area and neurofilament degradation, preserved evoked potentials and improved spinal cord blood flow) [10, 25, 43, 44]. Melanocortins, peptides related to melanotropin (αMSH) and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), are known to improve axonal regeneration following sciatic nerve injury [6, 7, 17, 18, 21, 35–37, 42] and to enhance compensation after damage to the CNS [20, 40, 41]. In vitro, melanocortins also exert trophic effects on the outgrowth of neurites from CNS neurons [2, 39].

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