Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 30, Issue 6, Pages 1121-1132Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2008.10.063
Keywords
Spinal cord injury; Axon regeneration; Function recovery; Collagen; Chitosan
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [30330220]
- National 863 Project [2006AA02A729]
- Key Project of Department of Science and Technology, Beijing, China
- Key Science and Technology Project of Beijing Education Committee [7041002, KZ200310025008]
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common outcome of traffic accidents and trauma with severe consequences. There has been no cure for such a condition. We performed experiments to evaluate the feasibility of implanting a chitosan tube filled with semifluid type I collagen into the site of surgically induced SCI to facilitate functional recovery. After a segment of the spinal cord, 4 mill in length and 2/3 of the spinal cord across its width, at the ninth thoracic level of all adult rat was dissected and removed, the biodegradable chitosan tube was implanted into the lesioned site. One year later, we found that axons from the proximal spinal cord regenerated, traversed the dissected area inside the tube and reentered the distal spinal cord, leading to functional restoration of the essentially paralyzed hind limbs. The nerve regeneration and functional recovery were confirmed by immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, nerve tracing and Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan behavioral evaluation. Such beneficial outcomes were not observed in the control groups, in which either no tube was implanted or the implanted tube had no collagen filling. We Conclude that the newly designed tube implant promotes both axon regeneration and functional recovery following SCI. A similar approach may have clinical implications in humans. 2008 (C) Elsevier Ltd. Ail rights reserved.
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