Peripheral nerve surgery is still a challenging problem to solve. Despite the technical improvements in microsurgery, classic techniques of nerve repair have failed to accomplish satisfactory results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of human amniotic fluid on peripheral nerve scarring and regeneration in rats. Forty Sprague-Dawley adult rats were used. After the right sciatic nerves of each rat were transected and repaired by epineural suture technique, nerves were divided into two groups according to the solution applied around the repair site. Nerves, applied 0.3 mL human amniotic fluid, were the experimental group and nerves, applied 0.3 mL saline were the control group. Macroscopic and histologic evaluation of peripheral nerve scarring were performed at 4th week. Nerves treated with amniotic fluid demonstrated significant reduction in the amount of scar tissue surrounding the repair site (p< .05). No evidence of reaction against human amniotic fluid was noted. Functional nerve regeneration was measured once in every two weeks using sciatic function index until 12th week. Functional recovery in the nerves treated with amniotic fluid was significantly faster than in the nerves treated with saline (p< .05). Peripheral nerve regeneration was evaluated histomorphologically at 12th week. Nerves treated with amniotic fluid showed significant improvement in respect of indices of fiber maturation (p< .05). In conclusion, our study as a preliminary look shows that human amniotic fluid enhances peripheral nerve regeneration. The preventive effect of human amniotic fluid on epineural scarring and the rich content of neurotrophic factors possibly participate in this result.

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