Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factors (CNTFs) in the facial motor neurons in rats during facial nerve regeneration.
Methods: The expression amount of CNTFs in eight groups was determined with immunohistochemical staining and image analysis.
Results: The expression of CNTFs increased during the process of nerve regeneration, and reached the maximum one-week and one-month after nerve injury respectively. After one month, the intensity of CNTFs reduced gradually. The expression of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) did not show distinct difference comparing with the control, but beta transforming growth factors (TGF-beta) benefited the expression of CNTFs during nerve regeneration.
Conclusion: The endogenous CNTFs promotes the axon outgrow during regeneration, and TGF-beta promotes the expression of CNTFs to rescue motoneuron during facial nerve regeneration.