EFFECTS OF DEFEROXAMINE ON ISCHEMIA REPERFUSION INJURY AFTER PERIPHERAL-NERVE COMPRESSION/

We have demonstrated previously that acute nerve compression produces ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat sciatic nerve. In this study, we ev aluated the effects of deferoxamine, an antioxidant, on recovery from ischemia/reperfusion injury after nerve compression. The sciatic nerve s of male Sprague-Dawley rats, 370 to 430 g, were subjected to 24 hour s of compression with Silastic tubing. The control group received intr avenous saline solution at the time of decompression. The therapeutic group received intravenous deferoxamine (50 mg per kilogram) at the ti me 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 o f ischemia/reperfusion injury and nerve regeneration, respectively. In the control group (injury alone), the MDA levels were three times hig her than normal during the initial 10 days and returned to normal by 1 4 days. In contrast, the deferoxamine treatment group had MDA levels t hat were not significantly different from precompression levels. In th e control group, enhanced GAP-43 expression persisted until late in th e recovery period. In the deferoxamine treatment group, the increased GAP-43 expression subsided early. The results suggest that the treatme nt of compressed peripheral nerve with deferoxamine at the time of sur gical decompression reduces ischemia/reperfusion injury.