We have demonstrated previously that acute nerve compression produces
ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat sciatic nerve. In this study, we evaluated the effects of
deferoxamine, an
antioxidant, on recovery from
ischemia/reperfusion injury after nerve compression. The sciatic nerves of male Sprague-Dawley rats, 370 to 430 g, were subjected to 24 hours of compression with
Silastic tubing. The control group received intravenous
saline solution at the time of
decompression. The therapeutic group received intravenous
deferoxamine (50 mg per kilogram) at the time of removal of the
Silastic tubing. Nerve tissues within and distal to the compression site were assayed for
malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and for
growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) expression, as markers of
ischemia/reperfusion injury and nerve regeneration, respectively. In the control group (injury alone), the MDA levels were three times higher than normal during the initial 10 days and returned to normal by 14 days. In contrast, the
deferoxamine treatment group had MDA levels that were not significantly different from precompression levels. In the control group, enhanced
GAP-43 expression persisted until late in the recovery period. In the
deferoxamine treatment group, the increased
GAP-43 expression subsided early. The results suggest that the treatment of compressed peripheral nerve with
deferoxamine at the time of
surgical decompression reduces
ischemia/reperfusion injury.