Tiam Mana Saffari

200 CHAPTER 9 Histology All obtained histology and immunof luorescence values are displayed in table 1. Figure 6 provides representative nerve sections of the different groups. At 12 weeks, autografts had a significant larger axon area ratio compared to unseeded allografts (P<0.001), allografts seeded with undifferentiated MSCs (P<0.001) and allografts seeded with differentiated MSCs (P=0.004). At 16 weeks, no significant differences in axon area ratio between groups were found. The axon count, myelin area and nerve area measures did not demonstrate any significant differences between groups at any of the time points. Autografts had a significant higher N-ratio compared to unseeded allografts (P=0.023) and allografts seeded with undifferentiated MSCs (P=0.040) at 12 weeks. At 16 weeks, autografts had a significantly better N-ratio compared to unseeded allografts (P=0.003), allografts with undifferentiated MSCs (P=0.025) and allografts with differentiated MSCs (P=0.002) (Figure 7). Table 1. Histology and immunofluorescence outcomes obtained at 12 and 16 weeks for all groups. Outcomes are displayed as the mean and the standard error of the mean (SEM). Autografts Allografts Allografts + undifferentiated MSCs Allografts + differentiated MSCs Axon area 12 weeks 16 weeks 27.58 ±2.93% 35.95 ±4.63% 10.14 ±1.89% 21.90 ±3.41% 11.76 ±1.62% 20.07 ±3.18% 15.48 ±2.27% 20.84 ±5.65% Axon count 12 weeks 16 weeks 56.87 ±7.47% 50.93 ±7.20% 32.42 ±5.38% 38.94 ±2.67% 39.61 ±5.11% 42.04 ±6.91% 47.39 ±5.55% 43.37 ±13.49% Myelin area 12 weeks 16 weeks 57.12 ±4.77% 69.63 ±8.12% 38.43 ±7.18% 57.53 ±6.25% 40.11 ±3.58% 50.69 ±5.72% 46.86 ±4.06% 41.93 ±7.33% Nerve area 12 weeks 16 weeks 77.97 ±7.58% 77.37 ±8.55% 63.77 ±5.74% 79.18 ±8.09% 61.58 ±3.53% 66.27 ±7.40% 71.09 ±6.23% 60.74 ±8.77% N-ratio 12 weeks 16 weeks 59.06 ±2.48% 72.22 ±2.93% 42.62 ±5.89% 53.57 ±3.04% 46.58 ±3.59% 57.53 ±2.74% 46.58 ±3.59% 51.71 ±5.34% S100 density 12 weeks 16 weeks 96.48 ±1.16% 102.37 ±6.94% 97.84 ±1.65% 93.54 ±2.38% 92.85 ±3.17% 94.61 ±3.86% 94.88 ±3.11% 95.92 ±5.90% PGP9.5 density 12 weeks 16 weeks 106.95 ±16.30% 92.81 ±5.15% 105.26 ±4.88% 101.89 ±12.22% 101.13 ±9.55% 98.13 ±13.88% 98.62 ±7.97% 76.68 ±6.25%