Ning Guo, Xiyao Gu, Yikuan Xie, Jun Zhao, Qinglian Xie, Guoping Zhao, Meilei Jin, Zhiqi Zhao, Hong Zou, Yuqiu Zhang, Gang Jason Jin and Lei Yu
Sciatic nerve is susceptible to trauma and injuries. Animal models for sciatic nerve trauma are mostly in rodents,
with limited information about injury-induced neuropathy in non-human primates. We constructed a model of sciatic
nerve neuropathy (SNN) in the cynomolgus macaque monkey, Macaca fascicularis, with mild injury to, but without
transection of, the sciatic nerve. Monkeys’ behavioral and physiological properties were characterized. SNN led to
reduced leg usage as well as muscle atrophy. Sciatic nerve retained the ability of nerve signal transduction, and
showed a flat-line type of firing rate profile, consistent with the hypothesis of injury-resulted hyper-sensitization.
These data suggest that mild injury to sciatic nerve result in long-lasting malfunction and neuropathy in monkeys.
This model may serve as a non-human primate model to study functional changes, as well as underlying
pathological mechanisms, of traumatic injury to the sciatic nerve.