Background and Objective: Peripheral nerve injuries are common. Although the nerve autograft still remains the clinical gold standard in bridging nerve injury gaps, but has severed disadvantages. The human umbilical vein (HUV) is appropriate for several vascular reconstructive applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the final outcome of nerve regeneration across the human umbilical vein channel in comparison with autograft.

Material and Method: In this study, 30 adult male rats were used. The rats were divided three groups: sham surgery, umbilical vein and autograft. one cm of the sciatic nerve was removed, and then the gap was repaired by the umbilical vein or nerve autograft. Nerve regeneration was examined at days 28 and 90 after repair by sciatic function index (SFI), electrophysiological assessments, histology and immunohistology staining.

Results: On post operation days 60 and 90, the mean of SFI in autograft group was greather than umbilical vein group, but the difference was not significant (P >0.05). On day 90, the mean nerve conduction velocity (NCV) in autograft group was significantly greater than umbilical vein group (P <0.05), but on day 28, the difference was not significant. The mean number of myelinated axons in autograft and umbilical vein groups was not statistically significant (P <0.05).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the positive effects of umbilical vein may be useful for treating peripheral nerve injuries.

Key Words: Regeneration, Sciatic nerve, Human umbilical vein, Nerve guidance channel, Rat