2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (32): 5148-5154

Functional differentiation and visualization of nerve fibers in the human sciatic nerve

Li Xiaojun, Li Jia, Gao Feng, Li Lang, Li Qin, Ouyang Xiangyu   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: It is the precondition of nerve recovery that nerve tracts are accurately stitched after sciatic nerve injury. However, it is unclear about the trajectory of the distal and proximal fracture ends of nerve tracts in different functional regions, and thus it is unable to accurately fix and repair the fracture end, which is the difficulty of surgical treatment, leading to fault regeneration of different functional nerve tracts. It has a great influence on postoperative neurological recovery.
OBJECTIVE: To study a set of methods for the reconstruction of motor and sensory nerve fibers in peripheral nerves, so as to provide a feasible method for seeking the distribution and trajectory of motion fibers and other fibers in the sciatic nerve and to provide the basis for accurate suture after nerve injury.
METHODS: In patients with upper-middle thigh amputation, a 1 cm sample of the sciatic nerve was taken 20 cm from the upper femoral condyle, marked using hair, fixed with paraffin, and then sliced continuously. Following immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining, the nerve sections were scanned under a microscope to obtain two-dimensional image information. The muscular branch of the sural nerve and the cutaneous branch of the superficial peroneal nerve were taken from the same limb as negative and positive controls. Using CINEMA 4D software developed by Maxon Computer (Germany), the stained sections were used to reconstruct the three-dimensional images of the internal movement of the sciatic nerve and other nerve fibers.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The specific antibody of motor fibers in the sciatic nerve, Anti-HB9/HLXB9 Antibody, was used to stain motor fibers, while other fibers were not dyed. Using CINEMA 4D software, two-dimensional images could be used to form three-dimensional images of nerve fibers in the sciatic nerve, and then motor fibers could be accurately distinguished from the other fibers using immunofluorescent staining. It is suggested that motor nerve fiber bundles and other nerve fiber bundles in the sciatic nerve can be accurately distinguished after immunohistochemical staining. To conclude, advanced three-dimensional reconstruction software can be used to accurately reconstruct the internal structure of the sciatic nerve, to provide an effective method for accurately differentiating motor fibers and other fibers and exploring the trajectory of nerve functional bundles.
Key words: sciatic nerve, nerve fiber, immunohistochemistry, three-dimensional reconstruction, visualization