The Effect of l-Methionine and Thiamine on the Recovery Process in Skeletal Muscle Degeneration caused by Motor Nerve Damage

Abstract

After the operating on the rat sciatic nerve trunk by clamping with Pean's forceps, the rats were divided into three groups: the l-methionine administered group, the thiamine administered group and the control group. The drugs were subcutaneously administered in dose of 100mg/kg of body weight three times a week every other day. The grade of recovery was examined 5 weeks after the operation by comparing the weight of the operated muscle with that of intact muscle and on the histological changes in the operated muscle.
l-Methionine was found to improve the recovery of the operated muscle both in weight and in the histological figure; it also increased the muscular glycogen content which was examined by PAS stain. The effect of thiamine on recovery of the degenerated muscle was mild in these experiments. As the side-effect was scarcely observed in histological examination of heart, liver and kidney of rats in this experiment, the administration of l-methionine is assumed to be effective on the recovery process of muscle degeneration caused by the motor nerve damage.