title: In vivo study of novel nanofibrous intra-luminal guidance channels to promote nerve regeneration.
abstract: A novel nanofibrous construct for promoting peripheral nerve repair was fabricated and tested in a rat sciatic nerve defect model. The conduit is made out of bilayered nanofibrous membranes with the nanofibers longitudinally aligned in the lumen and randomly oriented on the outer surface. The intra-luminal guidance channel is made out of aligned nanofibrous yarns. In addition, biomolecules such as laminin and nerve growth factor were incorporated in the nanofibrous nerve construct to determine their efficacy in in vivo nerve regeneration. Muscle reinnervation, withdrawal reflex latency, histological, axon density and electrophysiology tests were carried out to compare the efficacy of nanofibrous constructs with an autograft. Our study showed mixed results when comparing the artificial constructs with an autograft. In some cases, the nanofibrous conduit with aligned nanofibrous yarn as an intra-luminal guidance channel performs better than the autograft in muscle reinnervation and withdrawal reflex latency tests. However, the axon density count is highest in the autograft at mid-graft. Functional recovery was improved with the use of the nerve construct which suggested that this nerve implant has the potential for clinical usage in reconstructing peripheral nerve defects.
authors.affiliation: NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences & Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Puhaindran
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramakrishna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome