LAUSR

Femoral nerve injury remains a significant challenge in clinical practice due to the lack of effective treatment strategies. In the present study, we established a new drug delivery system consisting of a polylactic acid-trimethylene carbonate (PA-TC) tube loaded with glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and tested its efficacy to promote functional recovery of femoral nerve after injuries. GDNF was injected into the tube that was fitted to the ends of the transected femoral nerve in rats. Functional recovery was assessed at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the injury. The results demonstrated that the rats treated with the PA-TC tube loaded with GDNF showed significantly improved recovery in muscle action potentials and regenerated fiber area compared with animals treated by autologous nerve grafting (ANG) (all P < 0.05). In addition, the cross-sectional area of myelinated nerve fiber was higher in the PA-TC+GDNF group than in the ANG group at 8 and 12 weeks. The hindlimb grip strength and recovery rate were higher in the PA-TC+GDNF group than those in the ANG group at 8 and 12 weeks. These results demonstrated that our drug delivery system induced nerve regeneration and functional recovery after femoral nerve transection that was superior to that induced by ANG. It may have potential applications in nerve regeneration of peripheral nerve transection injuries.