Peripheral nerve regeneration in interleukin 6-deficient mice

Background: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine with effects on central and peripheral neurons. Objective: To investigate the role of IL-6 in peripheral nerve regeneration by comparing IL-6 knockout and wildtype mice in a sciatic nerve model of i njury and repair. Design/Subjects: Forty C57/BL6 (wild-type) and +0 IL-6 knockout mice were r andomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: sham surgery, sciatic nerve crush injury , sciatic nerve transection without repair and sciatic nerve transection wi th epineurial suture repair. Walking tracks were assessed preoperatively an d postoperatively at 10-day intervals for 50 days by means of a previously described mouse sciatic functional index. Distal segments of the sciatic ne rves were harvested at the completion of the study for histomorphometric ev aluation. Results: The wild-type and knockout mice that underwent sham surgery showed similarly unimpaired function (P=.64 on day 50). The IL-6 knockout mice wi th the crush injury demonstrated decreased function on day 10 compared with the wild-type mice (P<.01) but completely recovered by day 40 (P=.55). Bot h IL-6 knockout and wild-ripe mice that underwent nerve transection without repair failed to recover function (P=.06 on day 50). There was no statisti cal difference in recovery between wild-type and IL-6 knockout mice that un derwent nerve transection with epineurial suture repair (P=.30 on day 50). The morphometric data showed no significant differences in distal axon coun t between the wild-type and knockout mice after suture repair or crush inju ry (P>.32). Conclusions: The absence of IL-6 does not appear to impair peripheral nerve recovery after sciatic nerve injury. Although in vitro and in vivo studies suggest a role for IL-6 in peripheral nerve physiology, this cytokine does not appear to have a substantial effect on functional recovery in a mouse sciatic nerve injury and repair model.