Androgen treatment and recovery of function following recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in the rat.

Todd J Brown, Amy L Pittman, Gina N Monaco, Brent J Benscoter, Avinash V Mantravadi, Lee M Akst, Kathryn J Jones, Eileen M Foecking

R & D Services Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. tojobrow@iupui.edu

Restorative neurology and neuroscience 2013

filter terms:

To investigate the effects of the androgen testosterone propionate (TP), on regeneration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) after unilateral crush injury using assessment of vocal fold mobility (VFM) as a measure of behavioral recovery. 48 adult male rats underwent standardized crush injury of left RLN and received treatment in the form of 2 silastic capsules containing TP or controls receiving a blank capsule (untreated). Direct laryngoscopic assessment of vocal cord mobility was performed before, immediately following and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 weeks post injury. Treatment with TP enhanced the recovery of full VFM following crush injury of the RLN compared to controls. There was statistically significant improvement in VFM seen at the 1 and 2 week time points (p < 0.05). By 4 weeks TP-treated rats displayed a 100% recovery of VFM function, compared to only 50% by the control group. TP enhances RLN functional recovery following a crush injury, which further supports its potential general applicability as a therapeutic agent in peripheral nerve injury.

Citation

Todd J Brown, Amy L Pittman, Gina N Monaco, Brent J Benscoter, Avinash V Mantravadi, Lee M Akst, Kathryn J Jones, Eileen M Foecking. Androgen treatment and recovery of function following recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in the rat. Restorative neurology and neuroscience. 2013;31(2):169-76