Acidic fibroblast growth factor prevents death of spinal cord motoneurons in newborn rats after nerve section.

The death of spinal axotomised motoneurons provides a useful tool for studying neurotrophic factors which could prevent motoneuron loss in vivo. Median and ulnar nerves of newborn rats were unilaterally sectioned and topically treated with either a vehicle solution or acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF). aFGF treatment increased the survival of the median and ulnar spinal motoneurons, after 7 days of axotomy, from 37% to 63%. These results show that aFGF is a neurotrophic factor for newborn spinal motoneurons, and suggest that this protein is a potential therapeutic agent for preventing the death of damaged motoneurons.