17,18 The functional analysis was performed weekly in the two groups (GI and GII). At the end of the experiment (after 30 days) the animals were sacrificed in a CO2 chamber selleck kinase inhibitor and the musculoskeletal tissue (soleus and gastrocnemius) and nerve tissue (sciatic nerve) were collected, immersed in 10% buffered formaldehyde for 24 hours and afterwards dehydrated in an increasing concentration of ethanol, diaphanized in xylol and embedded in paraffin. The paraffin blocks were sectioned in a rotary microtome, with 4��m-thick histological sections. The sections were gathered on glass slides and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) and Gomori Trichrome. The histological analysis was performed using a conventional microscope. For the statistical analysis we used the Prism 4.

0 software for Student’s t-test, considered significant when the p-value was below 0.05. RESULTS During the ischemic procedure we were able to observe that the animals presented cyanosis, and a decrease in the limb temperature. After removal of the tourniquet and post-anesthetic reestablishment of the animals’ functions, it was noted that the animals presented important claudication, which improved over a few weeks and resumed four weeks after the experiment. We present below the experimental results obtained. The Figures show the temporal evolution over the four weeks of evaluation (frequency of rearing and of crossing). Figure 1 presents the results of the exploratory behavior assessment. The mean number of rearings of the animals was used as a measurement of the degree of recovery from the injury.

A higher number of rearings indicates faster recovery of the animal’s muscle movements. In figure 1 we can see the animals’ recovery over the weeks of evaluation. In the first two weeks, the two groups evaluated presented similar mean rearings. We can also observe the increase in the number of rearings of the two groups from the first to the second week, which may correspond to the start of the animal’s muscle recovery. From the third week on, it is possible to clearly observe the effect of the kinesiotherapy treatment, since Group II (experimental) presented an increase in the number of rearings, while the control group obtained a much lower mean number of rearings.

The results show that, for the experimental scenario used, the kinesiotherapy Dacomitinib treatment brought about a significant improvement at the end of the four-week period in the recovery of the muscle movements of the experimental group in relation to the control group of 150%, with significant statistical difference (p=0.0331). Figure 1 Mean rearings presented by group I (control) and group II (experimental) during the 4 weeks of evaluation.* Significantly different Figure 2 presents the number of crossings of the circular arena. The mean values of the five animals from each group evaluated during the four weeks of evaluation are presented here.