Animal Groups
For the care and use of laboratory animals, all protocols of this study received approval from the Biomedical Resource Center and the institutional animal care and use committee at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Sixteen healthy 3-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing between 250 and 300 g, were divided into 2 groups of 8 each, including: (1) a control group (n = 8), with transection of sciatic nerve at the mid-point and end-to-end repair only; and (2) a calcitonin group (n = 8), with transection injury and end-to-end repair and implantation of a calcitonin pump.