The Catuama® is composed of four Brazilian plants extracts (Paullinia cupana, Trichilia catigua, Ptychopetalum olacoides e Zingiber officinale). The Catuama® is known as having neuroprotector, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antidepressant effects. Bilobalide, extracted from leaves of Ginkgo biloba, is known by its neuroprotective effect in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The present study evaluates the effect of Catuama® and bilobalide on peripheral nerve regeneration in rats following a sciatic nerve section. Sciatic nerve of forty adult rats was transected with a 10-mm gap and the proximal and distal nerve stumps were fixed in a silicone tube filled with liquid collagen. The animals were divided into four groups: the control group (A), two groups treated with Catuama® by gavage along 28 days after the surgery in different doses of 100 (B) and 400mg.kg-1 (C) and the group using 200µM bilobalide (D) associated with the liquid collagen in the silicone tube. Evaluations were done by a walk test on the first, fifth and tenth week after the surgery. Electrophysiological stimulation and quantitative and qualitative histological analyses of the sciatic nerve and gastrocnemius muscle were also performed on the tenth week after the surgery. All groups showed good regeneration but no statistical difference was found between treatments and control groups (P>0.05).
peripheral nerve repair; silicone tube; collagen; phytotherapy
