Abstract
Treatment of injuries to peripheral nerves after a segmental defect is one of the most challenging surgical problems. Despite advancements in microsurgical techniques, complete recovery of nerve function after repair has not been achieved. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of the decellularized human umbilical artery (hUA) as nerve guidance conduit. A segmental peripheral nerve injury was created in 24 Sprague–Dawley rats. The animals were organized into two experimental groups with different forms of repair: decellularized hUA (n = 12), and autologous nerve graft (n = 12). Sciatic faction index and gastrocnemius muscle values were calculated for functional recovery evaluation. Nerve morphometry was used to analyze nerve regeneration. Results showed that decellularized hUAs after implantation were rich in nerve fibers and characterized by improved Sciatic Functional index (SFI) values. Decellularized hUA may support elongation and bridging of the 10 mm nerve gap.
Highlights
Peripheral Nervous injuries (PNI) are a global clinical problem, since they significantly affect the quality of life of patients and cause enormous socio-economic burden [1,2,3]
H&E showed the preservation of extracellular matrix (ECM), while the cellular populations were totally absent
Immunohistochemical analysis showed positive expression positive of NF200 and S100 in both experimental groups. These findings indicated that decellularized human umbilical artery (hUA) allows the migration of Schwann cells and elongation of the fibers through the umbilical artery tissue
Summary
Peripheral Nervous injuries (PNI) are a global clinical problem, since they significantly affect the quality of life of patients and cause enormous socio-economic burden [1,2,3]. A secondary surgical procedure, which is often associated with donor site pain and mobility, is needed in order to obtain the nerve graft. Other approaches include the development of three-dimensional scaffold-nerve conduits which can be used for gap bringing between the proximal and distal stump of the nerve tissue. Natural biological nerve conduits such as vessels (veins and arteries), decellularized nerve [13] and muscle tissue have been widely used to bridge peripheral nerve gap in animal models [14] and in clinical practice [15,16]. Tissue decellularization offers the possibility to obtain a cell-free, natural extracellular matrix (ECM), characterized by an adequate 3D organization with proper composition to repair different tissues or organs, including peripheral nerves [13]
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