Abstract: Objective: To observe the protective effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) and monosiaganglioside (GM1) on primary sensory neurons in rats with sciatic nerve injury. Methods: Ninetysix SD rats were randomly divided into normal saline control group(A), NGF group(B), GM1 group(C) and NGF + GM1 group(D). The sciatic nerve was incised with a 5 mmdefect. The two ends of nerve were connected with a 10.0mm length silicagel tube of 2.0 mm bore. Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) was removed from each animal at different time after treated with saline, NGF, GM1 and NGF+GM1 respectively. Results: At the 4th week after operation,the number of neurons and nerve conductive velocity(NCV) increased significantly(P＜0.01) in the treatment groups than in the control group, and it increased significantly(P＜0.01) in group D than that in group B and C. At the 8th week after operation, the number of neurons and NCV increased significantly(P＜0.01) in the treatment groups than that in the control group; whereas there were no significant difference between each treatment groups. Conclusion: Using NGF and GM1 simultaneously may avoid the necrosis of neurons and accelerate the regeneration of DRG neurons when peripheral nerves are damaged, which is superior to that using NGF or GM1 alone.

Key words: Nerve growth factors, Monosiaganglioside, Neurons, Ganglia, Sensory