Repairing peripheral nerve defects with revascularized tissue-engineered nerve based on a vascular endothelial growth factor-heparin sustained release system

To enhance the angiogenic capacity of tissue-engineered peripheral nerves, we have constructed revascularized tissue-engineered nerves based on a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-heparin sustained release system. However, the effects of the repair of large peripheral nerve defects are not known. In this study, we used the above revascularized tissue-engineered nerve to repair large nerve defects in rats. The repair effects were observed through general observation, functional evaluation of nerve regeneration, ultrasound examination, neural electrophysiology, wet weight ratio of bilateral gastrocnemius muscle, histological evaluation, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The results showed that the tissue-engineered peripheral nerve based on a VEGF-heparin sustained release system can achieve early vascularization and restore blood supply in the nerve graft area. The realization of early vascularization in the area of the nerve defect greatly promotes the speed of nerve regeneration and reconstruction in the area of the nerve defect, which greatly advances the process of nerve repair and reconstruction and accelerates the restoration of the normal morphological structure and function of peripheral nerves.