title: Tubulization with chitosan guides for the repair of long gap peripheral nerve injury in the rat.
abstract: Biosynthetic guides can be an alternative to nerve grafts for reconstructing severely injured peripheral nerves. The aim of this study was to evaluate the regenerative capability of chitosan tubes to bridge critical nerve gaps (15 mm long) in the rat sciatic nerve compared with silicone (SIL) tubes and nerve autografts (AGs). A total of 28 Wistar Hannover rats were randomly distributed into four groups (n = 7 each), in which the nerve was repaired by SIL tube, chitosan guides of low (∼2%, DAI) and medium (∼5%, DAII) degree of acetylation, and AG. Electrophysiological and algesimetry tests were performed serially along 4 months follow-up, and histomorphometric analysis was performed at the end of the study. Both groups with chitosan tubes showed similar degree of functional recovery, and similar number of myelinated nerve fibers at mid tube after 4 months of implantation. The results with chitosan tubes were significantly better compared to SIL tubes (P < 0.01), but lower than with AG (P < 0.01). In contrast to AG, in which all the rats had effective regeneration and target reinnervation, chitosan tubes from DAI and DAII achieved 43 and 57% success, respectively, whereas regeneration failed in all the animals repaired with SIL tubes. This study suggests that chitosan guides are promising conduits to construct artificial nerve grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERNED, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Perez
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERNED, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cobianchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, Cavalieri Ottolenghi Neuroscience Institute, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geuna
authors.affiliation: Medovent GmbH, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barwig
authors.affiliation: Medovent GmbH, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Freier
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERNED, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Udina
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERNED, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Navarro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000379:methods*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000293:injuries* / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery / Q000637:transplantation; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D048271:Chitosan