Objective The aim of this studywas to observe the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factors (CNTFs) in the fa- cial motor neurons in rats during facial nerve regeneration.Methods The expression amount of CNTFs in eight groupswas determined with immunohistochemical staining and image analysis.Results The expression of CNTFs increased during the process of nerve re- generation, and reached the maximum one-week and one-month after nerve injury respectively. After one month, the intensity of CNTFs reduced gradually. The expression of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) did not show distinct dif- ference comparingwith the control, but beta transforming growth factors (TGF-β) benefited the expression of CNTFs during nerve re- generation.Conclusion The endogenous CNTFs promotes the axon outgrow during regeneration, andTGF-βpromotes the expression of CNTFs to rescue motoneuron during facial nerve regeneration.
