Chitosan Tubes Enriched with Fresh Skeletal Muscle Fibers for Primary Nerve Repair.

ABSTRACT: Muscle-in-vein conduit is successfully employed for repairing nerve injuries: the vein prevents muscle fiber dispersion, while the muscle prevents the vein collapse and creates a favorable environment for Schwann cell migration and axon regrowth. However, it requires microsurgical skills. In this study we show a simple strategy to improve the performance of a chitosan hollow tube by the introduction of fresh skeletal muscle fibers. The hypothesis is to overcome the technical issue of the muscle-in-vein preparation and to take advantage of fiber muscle properties to create an easy and effective conduit for nerve regeneration. Rat median nerve gaps were repaired with chitosan tubes filled with skeletal muscle fibers (muscle-in-tube graft), hollow chitosan tubes, or autologous nerve grafts. O

SUBMITTER: Ronchi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6020668 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature