Figure 5.

MDPs accelerate functional recovery of sciatic nerve crush as observed in walking track analysis. a) Equation for calculating the Sciatic Function Index (SFI) using an uninjured control foot and the experimental foot. b) Footprints of rats pre-injury, one day post-injury, and 21 days post injury. c) Representative footprints of rats treated with HBSS control and MDP hydrogels. d) SFI scores from pre-injury to 21 days post-injury. Statistically significant differences compared with HBSS control are observed at 15 days post-injury (α: K₂ p-value <0.05, β: K₂-IIKDI and K₂-IIKDI p-value <0.01) and 17 days post-injury (γ: K₂, K₂-IIKDI and K_2-IKVAV p-value <0.01). e) Scatter plot with individual values representation of the SFI 15 days post-injury. Error bars represent standard deviation. n= 4 rats per group. * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value < 0.01.