Morphofunctional regeneration by mesenchymal stem cell and IGF-1 inoculation in a model of facial nerve crush injury in rats

•IGF-1 is responsible for significant effects on neuroplasticity.•Mesenchymal stem cells influence morphological nerve regeneration.•The association of IGF-1 and mesenchymal stem cells promotes results in facial nerve regeneration. To analyze the morphofunctional regeneration process of facial nerve injury in the presence of insulin-like growth factor-1 and mesenchymal stem cells. Fourteen Wistar rats suffered unilateral facial nerve crushing and were randomly divided into two groups. All received insulin-like growth factor-1 inoculation, but only half of the animals received an additional inoculation of mesenchymal stem cells. The animals were followed for 90 days and facial nerve regeneration was analyzed via spontaneous facial motor function tests and immunohistochemistry in the nerve motor nucleus. The group that received the growth factor and stem cells showed a statistically superior mean in vibrissae movements (p