Goji fruit (Lycium barbarum) protects sciatic nerve function against crush injury in a model of diabetic stress

Abstract

Excess fructose consumption causes changes in functioning of the central and peripheral nervous systems, which increase the vulnerability of peripheral nerves to traumatic injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the electrophysiological parameters of responses of motoneurons of the spinal cord at high-frequency stimulation of the distal part of the injured sciatic nerve in a model of diabetic stress under action of Lycium barbarum (LB). Male albino rats were given with drinking water with 50% concentration of dietary fructose for 6 weeks. Starting on the 7th week a crush injury of the left sciatic nerve was carried out. Some of the animals received fructose post-injury for 3 weeks and some of the animals received fructose+dry LB fruits for 3 weeks. In the fructose+crush+LВ group a relatively proportional division of tetanic and posttetanic potentiation and depression in responses of ipsilateral and contralateral motoneurons was observed, which would suggest the modulatory role of LB in short-term synaptic plasticity formation. Generally, LB fruit is able to modulate central nervous system reorganization, amplifying positive adaptive changes that improve functional recovery and promote selective target reinnervation in high fructose-diet rats with sciatic nerve crush-injury.