Figure 7.

Neurobehavioral assessments of rats that received a single sciatic nerve injection of 0.1 mL PBS containing 8 μg TTX and HPG-PPG-HPG, or a single injection of 0.1 mL PBS containing 3 μg or 4 μg TTX alone. (a) Schematic illustrating the injected side and the contralateral side as control. (b) Frequency of nerve block in the uninjected (contralateral) leg and animal mortality. The hydrogels tested were 30 (w/v) % HPG₆₀₈-PPG₄₀₀₀-HPG₆₀₈, 15 (w/v) % HPG₆₉₅-PPG₂₀₀₀-HPG₆₉₅, and 15 (w/v) % HPG₂₆₅₆-PPG₂₀₀₀-HPG₂₆₅₆. Comparison between injections of 0.1 mL of PBS containing 3 μg free TTX and 0.1 mL of HPG₆₉₅-PPG₂₀₀₀-HPG₆₉₅ 15 (w/v) % hydrogel containing 8 μg of TTX on (c) the frequency of successful blocks, and (d) the average duration of sensory nerve blocks. Data are the means with SDs (n = 4). (e) Ipsilateral and (f) contralateral paw withdrawal latency (PWL) to thermal stimulation in 4 rats injected with 0.1 mL of 15 (w/v) % HPG₆₉₅-PPG₂₀₀₀-HPG₆₉₅ hydrogel containing 8 μg of TTX. (g) Ipsilateral and (h) contralateral paw leg bearing weight of 4 rats injected with 0.1 mL of HPG₆₉₅-PPG₂₀₀₀-HPG₆₉₅ 15 (w/v) % hydrogel containing 8 μg of TTX.