Figure 5.

Effect of QZS on regeneration of sciatic nerve fibers in injured rats.

(A) Morphology of nerve axons: Immunofluorescence staining of neurofilament-200; original magnification, 200×; scale bars: 100 μm; red tissue indicates fluorescence coloration of tetramethylrhodamine-conjugated secondary antibodies. Black area indicates background. White arrow indicates positive cells. (B) Count of regenerated nerve axons: 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively, the number of regenerated axons in the sham group was greater than in the NCI and NCI + QZS groups, while the number of regenerated axons in the NCI + QZS group was greater than in the NCI group. At 8 weeks after surgery, the numbers of regenerated axons in the NCI and NCI + QZS groups were greater than those in the sham group. *P < 0.05. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 6; one-way analysis of variance followed by the least significant difference post hoc test). QZS: Qian-Zheng-San.