Figure 5.

Chitin scaffold combined with autologous small nerve affects the histology and weight of the gastrocnemius muscle in rats with sciatic nerve defects.

(A) Representative gross images of the gastrocnemius muscle on the normal and surgical side (stars), and images of Masson's trichrome stained transverse sections of the muscles on the surgical side. Arrows indicate the muscle fibers. The muscles in the C/SAN and C/SAN-ER groups were much larger than those in the C/Hollow group. The gap between muscle fibers was larger in the C/Hollow group than in the C/SAN and C/SAN-ER groups. Scale bars: 10 mm (upper), 20 μm (lower). (B) Muscle wet weight ratio for the four groups. (C) Average cross-sectional muscle fiber area for the four groups. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 6). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 (one-way analysis of variance followed by Student-Newman-Keuls test). Autograft group: the nerve gap bridged by the autograft; C/Hollow group: the nerve gap bridged by the hollow chitin conduit; C/SAN group: the nerve gap bridged by the chitin biological conduit in which a small nerve was inside; C/SAN-ER group: the nerve gap bridged by the chitin conduit in which a small nerve with its epineurium removed was inside. R/L: Right/left.