Botulinum Toxin Conditioning Enhances Motor Axon Regeneration in Mouse and Human Preclinical Models.
Colin K Franz, Alyssa Puritz, Lewis A Jordan and 4 others
PMID 30043670WHAT IT FOUND
Injecting Botox into muscle one week before nerve injury sped up early axon regrowth in mice and human stem cell models.
This preclinical finding suggests a potential future role for Botox in nerve transfer surgery, but it is not yet a proven therapy for patients.
Key findings
01Preconditioning with botulinum toxin A one week before nerve crush significantly increased myelinated axon counts in mice at one week, but this advantage disappeared by four weeks.
02In human stem cell-derived motor neurons, botulinum toxin preconditioning significantly increased the proportion of neurons forming neurites, the number of neurites per neuron, and the length of the longest neurite.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study is entirely preclinical, using mice and human stem cells in a lab, with no human patients involved. The beneficial effect on motor neuron count in mice was transient, disappearing by four weeks when regeneration naturally plateaus. The mechanism of action is not fully understood, and the authors note that previous studies using different timing or endpoints found no effect.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as evidence that injecting Botox into a patient's muscle will improve nerve recovery after an injury. The study was conducted on mice and cell cultures, not humans with peripheral nerve injuries, and the effect in mice vanished by four weeks.