Abstract

To test cool-warm protocols for storing peripheral nerves, 4-cm-long-nerve segments were removed from the hindleg of adult rats and cryopreserved using a vitrification solution (or cryoprotective mixture) containing a mixture of polyalcohols (2,3-butanediol, 1,2-propanediol, polyethylene glycol, and Belzer U.W. medium). Schwann cell viability and morphology were studied with regard to the effect of (i) cryoprotective mixture concentration (100, 50, and 30% diluted in human serum albumin at 4%), (ii) duration of exposure (10, 15, or 30 min in a single step) of nerves to the cryoprotective mixture, (iii) cooling rate (F1/F2, F3, and F4: 3, 12, and 231 degrees C/min, respectively), and (iv) type of replacement of cryoprotectant (T1, one step; or T2, perfusion) after warming. Nerves exposed 10 min to cryoprotective mixture 50% (2,3-butanediol, 1.926 mol.liter-1; 1,2-propanediol, 3.063 mol.liter-1; polyethylene glycol, 0.084 mol.liter-1; and Belzer U.W., 22.4 mosm-1) and cooled-warmed with the F2/F3/F4-T2 protocols contained live and correctly cryopreserved Schwann cells. The capacity of these cryopreserved nerve segments (n = 6) to be subsequently repopulated by regenerating axons from central neurons was compared to that of fresh nerves when used as peripheral nerve autografts implanted within the spinal cord at the level of the descending respiratory pathways. All cryopreserved nerve grafts were successfully reinnervated by regenerated central axons. Unitary spontaneous action potentials propagated along these axons were assessed by recording the discharge of tested nervous filaments (T) from the grafts in artificially ventilated and paralyzed animals. Out of 535 T, 32 (6 +/- 1.2%) presented spontaneous unitary activity with respiratory (R, n = 2) and nonrespiratory (NR, n = 30) pattern of discharge. The T mean number, the occurrence rate referenced to the total number of T (R/T, NR/T, and R + NR/T) and the mean number of spontaneous units (R, NR, R + NR) were compared to those of fresh spinal peripheral nerve grafts. Except for T, cryopreserved peripheral nerve grafts contained statistically significantly (P < 0.05) less spontaneous R and NR unitary activity, which represented, respectively, 6.2 +/- 6.2 and 26.8 +/- 5.7% of that found in the control group. These data indicate that nerves cryopreserved with the protocols described above contain viable Schwann cells which constitute a suitable support to induce regeneration of central fibers. The effectiveness of nerve cryopreservation by vitrification is discussed with regard to Schwann cell viability following cool-warm protocols and to subsequent reinnervation of the cryopreserved peripheral nerve grafts.