Effects of Crocin, Azithromycin, and Their Co-administration on Sciatic Nerve Injury in Rats

Background: Although peripheral nerve injury is not life-threatening, it causes significant disability. Following these damages, ischemia and inflammatory processes occur, resulting in neurological dysfunction. Several medications have been explored to alleviate the symptoms of peripheral nerve injury. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate how crocin (CR) and azithromycin (AZ) affected sciatic nerve crush injuries in rats. Materials Methods: Five groups were established using 40 adult male rats: control, lesion, AZ, CR and AZ+CR. Except for the control group, sciatic nerve injury was surgically induced in the other groups. AZ and CR were administered alone or together to three treatment groups for seven days. Following the behavioral evaluations, sections of the sciatic nerve were stained for immunohistochemical, histological and morphometric assessment. Results: CR treatment’s efficacy was more pronounced than AZ’s (P≤0.001). CR was found to be less efficacious than combination therapy involving AZ and CR, as determined by sciatic functional index (P≤0.001), hot plate (P≤0.001), and immunohistochemical analysis (P≤0.001). In the remaining evaluations, no significant difference existed between the AZ+CR and CR groups (P 0.05). Conclusion: This study found that both AZ and CR significantly improved the recovery of sciatic nerve injuries in rats, with CR being more effective. The combination of AZ and CR showed even greater benefits in some assessments compared to CR alone, although no significant differences were observed in other evaluations. These findings suggest that CR is a promising treatment for peripheral nerve injury and that combination therapy may enhance certain aspects of recovery.