Use of Polyethelyne Glycol in nerve damage repair.

[blujeenz]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11844245

Polyethylene glycol rapidly restores physiological functions in damaged sciatic nerves of guinea pigs.
Donaldson J1, Shi R, Borgens R.
Author information
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
We have studied the ability of the hydrophilic polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) to anatomically and physiologically reconnect damaged axons of the adult guinea pig spinal cord. Here we have extended this approach to test whether completely severed guinea pig sciatic nerves in isolation could be fused and whether PEG was able to repair severe standardized crush injuries to sciatic nerves in vivo.

METHODS:
The fusion test was performed with isolated sciatic nerves maintained in a double-sucrose gap recording chamber. For in vivo experiments, the sciatic nerve was surgically exposed in the hind leg of deeply anesthetized adult guinea pigs and was crushed proximal to its insertion in the gastrocnemius muscle. PEG was injected just beneath the epineurium with a 29-gauge needle, allowed to remain in the damaged axon region for 2 minutes, and removed. Sham-treated guinea pigs received an injection of water or Krebs' solution. Three indices of recovery were simultaneously monitored in response to electrical stimulation of the proximal nerve, i.e., 1) recovery of compound muscle action potentials (in millivolts), 2) contraction force of the muscle (in dynes), and 3) displacement of the muscle (in millimeters).

RESULTS:
When isolated sciatic nerves were severed within the double-sucrose gap chamber, compound action potential propagation through the transection plane was eliminated. After abutment of the two segments and 2-minute PEG application to this site, variable compound action potential recovery was measured in all four cases. The crush injuries to the sciatic nerve in vivo eliminated the three functional responses to sciatic nerve stimulation in all animals. Within the first 30 minutes after treatment, only 1 of 12 control animals exhibited spontaneous recovery in any of these measures, compared with six of eight PEG-treated animals. By 45 minutes, two more sham-treated animals and one more PEG-treated animal had recovered at least one functional response. This difference in proportions between PEG-treated and sham-treated animals was statistically significant (P < or =0.02).

CONCLUSION:
We conclude that these preliminary data suggest that PEG application may be a way to interfere with the steady dissolution of peripheral nerve fibers after mechanical damage and to even functionally fuse or reconnect severed proximal and distal segments.

This application is direct bloodstream and not via air/blood lung transfer mode as in vaping, however it bodes well for the use of PEG in therapeutic applications.

EDIT The fact that we use PG in our ejuices and not PEG eluded me in my initial postings and has been raised by more observant forum members.

 

[blujeenz]

Some more good news on the uses of PEG in nerve damage repair.
My red highlighting of the cliff hanger notes.

EDIT The fact that we use PG in our ejuices and not PEG eluded me in my initial postings and has been raised by more observant forum members.
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu:8080/reporter/index.html?ID=12323

New technique could speed repair of damaged nerves
BY: MIMI ECKHARD

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3/08/2012 - Surgeons have been successfully reattaching limbs since the 1960s, but returning full function to the severed arm or leg remains the stuff of science fiction novels.

Investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center hope their research will one day enable surgeons to apply a simple solution that begins to repair the nerves immediately while the limb is being reattached in the operating room.

Using a calcium-free polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution, Wesley Thayer, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues from the Department of Plastic Surgery, were able to repair a severed nerve in a rat, returning movement in the leg in just minutes.

They were also able to bridge gaps in injured nerves using the new approach.

Thayer, assistant professor of Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery, presented his work at the American Association for Hand Surgery annual meeting in January.

Nerves can naturally repair themselves by regenerating and regrowing over time. Such repair in smaller extremities, such as fingers, can occur more easily because the distance between the nerves and its target is short.

However, when an entire limb is cut or damaged near the shoulder, it can take a year for nerves to regenerate at a rate of 1 millimeter per day.

Unfortunately, by that time, muscle atrophy has set in, severely limiting any restoration of nerve function.

This new approach shortens the time for repair and regeneration, and has also been shown to work even days after the nerves are cut. These developments may one day help traumatic injury survivors who previously had little to no options in repairing nerve damage.

The PEG solution is applied to both ends of the severed nerve after bathing the nerves in a calcium-free solution. This solution acts to keep the nerve channel open, and the PEG brings the severed nerves together.

A follow-up calcium solution works to bind the process together. In previous attempts to return nerve function, the initial PEG solution contained calcium, but results were poor.

After several attempts, the research team left calcium out of the PEG, which immediately led to successful outcomes.

“We believe the calcium in the PEG solution hampered nerve repair by too quickly sealing the nerves in an unrepaired state,” said Thayer.


“By removing the calcium in the early steps, we allow the nerve channel to remain effectively open before binding all of the critical elements in place,” he said.

Vanderbilt engineers are working with Thayer to develop a device that more precisely administers the PEG solution in the operating room.
Launched in 2011, the Vanderbilt Initiative of Surgery and Engineering (VISE) has already developed new technologies in soft-tissue image-guided procedures that enable surgeons to see exactly where critical structures, such as blood vessels and nerves, are located.

In February, the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) awarded Kevin Sexton, M.D., a research fellow who is working with Thayer, the Outstanding Resident Research Award in Basic Science and Best Manuscript by an AAS New Member prize for their paper on using polymers to bridge nerve gaps resulting from an injury.

 

[Mike]

Ah man I hopes this develops to a point where it's effective people. Have so much nerve repair that I need done!

 

[blujeenz]

So why the interest you may ask?
Well back in 2006 I had surgery on a ruptured disk between my L5 & S1 vertabrae.
The rupture damaged the sciatic nerve to my left leg leading to reduced muscle function and loss of sensation in the foot.
Over the last 10years I have had improvements but not complete return to normal function and have subsequently decided to give high PG juices a vape in the chance that some more functon returns to the damaged area.
While I'm not able to report any miracle "leapt out of the wheelchair" moments, the results over the last 2 month vape period have been encouraging.

• My experience with cuts and grazes is that they heal a lot faster when you rub some neat PG into the injury.
• Dental surgery (6 stiches for a molar extraction) healed faster when vaping a high PG juice.
• I had for the last 2 years experienced a crunching from both elbow joints (under load conditions eg pressups) probably due to ageing. About 2.5 months after beginning vaping the cruching sound has dissapeared.

Many thanks to @Oupa (Vapour Mountain) for their Legends range of 60/40 PG/VG juices, notably Dean and Monroe.

EDIT The fact that we use PG in our ejuices and not PEG eluded me in my initial postings and has been raised by more observant forum members.
I see that PEG is the basis in a lot of different laxatives, however I shant experiment down that avenue, but rather continue vaping high PG juices.

 

[shaunnadan]

@blujeenz that is remarkable, wow

Both @Rowan Francis and myself will stand by the claim that apart from quitting smoking, vaping has been a major plus towards our health. the constant hot and cold when regularly traveling used to leave us wrecked with colds, but no longer. I have a feeling the pg is the cause of this

 

[Dubz]

Propylene Glycol (PG) is different to Polyethelyne Glycol (PEG) isn't it? I don't believe PEG is used in our eliquids...

 

[blujeenz]

@blujeenz that is remarkable, wow

Both @Rowan Francis and myself will stand by the claim that apart from quitting smoking, vaping has been a major plus towards our health. the constant hot and cold when regularly traveling used to leave us wrecked with colds, but no longer. I have a feeling the pg is the cause of this

Not to spring a leak in your dingy, but I didnt get colds and flu once I quit smoking, but long before I started vaping.
Seems that there is more to the picture than initally meets the eye:
The 3 substances that supposedly "erode" vitamin C in the body are antibiotics, caffeine and nicotine, even though I still drink plenty coffee Im practically cold and flu free, so I figure nicotine, or should I rather say, the previous nicotine transport method ie cigarettes, is largely responsible for colds and flu.

IMO:The fact that many folk are vaping relatively high doses of nicotine suggest that maybe it wasnt nicotine that brought on the onset of flu and colds, but rather some substance that kills the filia on the lungs at the same time, ie the tar and condensates we always read about on the boxes.

 

[Gizmo]

Propylene Glycol (PG) is different to Polyethelene Glycol (PEG) isn't it? I don't believe PEG is used in our eliquids...

I am pretty sure of that..

 

[blujeenz]

@Dubz @Gizmo
Yes you're both right, ejuice is PG containing and not PEG.
The glycols got me all excited, some editing will be required.

 

[Mike]

This is still exciting for people who have neuropathy. Thanks @blujeenz

 

[blujeenz]

Apparently ejuice did originally contain PEG, but long before my vaping time.
Seems that PG does contain some germicidal properties which is responsible for healthier human lung function.

Taken from http://ejuiceconnoisseur.com/2013/10/21/the-final-word-on-propylene-glycol-vs-polyethylene-glycol/

PEG was all-but-abandoned when all of this hogwash about antifreeze started causing the sheeple to panic, as they are wont to do whenever they read a headline with the form “Is _____ Really Healthy?” As you can see by the above-mentioned evidence and scientific analyses, Neither PEG nor PG are actually unhealthy when inhaled. Of the two, PG is slightly better, which is why most of the E-cigarette industry has switched from PEG to PG. Of course, they also did so in an effort to shut the ANTZ (Anti-Nicotine and Tobacco Zealots) up… a move which ultimately failed because they have abandoned all attention to scientific evidence in exchange for a vendetta against the industry as a whole.

 

[zadiac]

I have been using PG for medical purposes now for more than a year and according to me it's a wonder chemical. I don't get colds and flu anymore. I don't get pneumonia anymore (I used to get it every year and sometimes twice a year). I've been using it on cuts and bruises as well and yes, it speeds up the healing process. Pain in my ear: Dub an earbud in some PG and clean out the ear and within minutes the pain stops.
A friend had an infection in his ear and I suggested using PG and it cleared up the infection within a day.
When I nick myself while shaving, I apply PG and it heals fast.
Cold sores heals twice as fast when using PG.

I still vape pure PG for at least an hour every night before bed. Never get sick, even in winter

 

[blujeenz]

I have been using PG for medical purposes now for more than a year and according to me it's a wonder chemical. I don't get colds and flu anymore. I don't get pneumonia anymore (I used to get it every year and sometimes twice a year). I've been using it on cuts and bruises as well and yes, it speeds up the healing process. Pain in my ear: Dub an earbud in some PG and clean out the ear and within minutes the pain stops.
A friend had an infection in his ear and I suggested using PG and it cleared up the infection within a day.
When I nick myself while shaving, I apply PG and it heals fast.
Cold sores heals twice as fast when using PG.

I still vape pure PG for at least an hour every night before bed. Never get sick, even in winter

Thanks for that contribution @zadiac, I was sure I wasnt just dreaming it up.
I did jump to conclusions when I saw those PEG repair articles, not stopping to think that ejuice is PG and not PEG, what can I say..hope springs eternal with us humans.
I still feel that Im on the right path PG wise and now I'll know if it was just a placebo effect if the crunching cartlilage returns.
All said and done, PG still has its place in my medicine cabinet and I dont foresee that changing anytime soon.