Immunological study of chemically acellular nerve isografts in the rat

Objective: To observe the rejection response of acellular peripheral nerve isografts,and study the impact of chemical extraction on the immunogenicity of nerve isograft.Methods: Both sciatic nerves of twelve Sprague-Dawley rats were resected and made acellular by chemical extraction.Acellular isogeneic nerves and fresh isogeneic nerves from Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted into the dorsal and ventral subcutis of Wistar rats in experimental group and control group respectively.Serum antibody specific to isograft nerve antigen was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）.T lymphocytes infiltration in isograft nerve was investigated by immunohistochemical methods,staining CD3,CD4 and CD8 positive T lymphocytes with anti-CD3,CD4 and CD8 monoclonal antibodies（MoAb）.Results: There was no positive serum antibody avidity in two groups.Immunohistochemical stainings showed that the number of CD3,CD4 and CD8 positive T lymphocytes infiltrated into the nerve implants of the experimental group is much lower than that in the control group.The implanted fresh nerve isografts were absorbed 8w after implantation in the control group,but the acellular nerves could be preserved 12w after implantation in the experimental group.Conclusion: The acellular nerve treated by chemical methods had much lower immunogenicity than fresh nerve,and there was no significant rejection response after iso-transplantation in the rat.