Table 4.
Histological characterizations in EA, EA + BMSCs, BMSCs, and PBS (mean ± SD).
| Histology of the injured nerves | Time points (weeks) |
EA | EA + BMSCs | BMSCs | PBS | p < 0.05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myelin area (%) | 0 | 32.72 ± 2.25 | 30.93 ± 3.91 | 31.79 ± 3.58 | 31.48 ± 1.43 | – |
| 2 | 1.66 ± 0.43 | 1.45 ± 0.78 | 1.18 ± 0.31 | 1.11 ± 0.31 | – | |
| 3 | 6.53 ± 1.67 | 6.05 ± 1.41 | 3.35 ± 1.09 | 2.82 ± 1.12 | bcde | |
| 4 | 20.97 ± 1.67 | 15.26 ± 2.22 | 12.56 ± 2.30 | 5.04 ± 0.92 | abcef | |
| Myelin debris area (%) | 1 | 15.94 ± 2.18 | 18.18 ± 1.12 | 22.74 ± 4.69 | 17.43 ± 0.79 | bf |
| 2 | 4.74 ± 0.94 | 5.70 ± 1.71 | 8.17 ± 1.76 | 9.88 ± 2.13 | bce | |
| 3 | 3.35 ± 0.47 | 4.05 ± 0.84 | 4.65 ± 0.26 | 5.95 ± 0.43 | bcef | |
| 4 | 2.67 ± 0.40 | 2.47 ± 0.17 | 2.68 ± 0.35 | 3.14 ± 0.14 | – |
EA, electroacupuncture; BMSCs, bone mesenchymal stem cells; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; SD, standard deviation; p ≤ 0.05, post-hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction. p < 0.05 and statistically significant difference between groups: a, EA vs. EA + BMSCs; b, EA vs. BMSCs; c, EA vs. PBS; d, EA + BMSCs vs. BMSCs; e, EA + BMSCs vs. PBS; f, BMSCs vs. PBS.