USF-LVHN SELECT
Long-gap peripheral nerve repair through sustained release of a neurotrophic factor in nonhuman primates.
Publication/Presentation Date
1-22-2020
Abstract
Severe injuries to peripheral nerves are challenging to repair. Standard-of-care treatment for nerve gaps >2 to 3 centimeters is autografting; however, autografting can result in neuroma formation, loss of sensory function at the donor site, and increased operative time. To address the need for a synthetic nerve conduit to treat large nerve gaps, we investigated a biodegradable poly(caprolactone) (PCL) conduit with embedded double-walled polymeric microspheres encapsulating glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) capable of providing a sustained release of GDNF for >50 days in a 5-centimeter nerve defect in a rhesus macaque model. The GDNF-eluting conduit (PCL/GDNF) was compared to a median nerve autograft and a PCL conduit containing empty microspheres (PCL/Empty). Functional testing demonstrated similar functional recovery between the PCL/GDNF-treated group (75.64 ± 10.28%) and the autograft-treated group (77.49 ± 19.28%); both groups were statistically improved compared to PCL/Empty-treated group (44.95 ± 26.94%). Nerve conduction velocity 1 year after surgery was increased in the PCL/GDNF-treated macaques (31.41 ± 15.34 meters/second) compared to autograft (25.45 ± 3.96 meters/second) and PCL/Empty (12.60 ± 3.89 meters/second) treatment. Histological analyses included assessment of Schwann cell presence, myelination of axons, nerve fiber density, and
Volume
12
Issue
527
ISSN
1946-6242
Published In/Presented At
Fadia, N. B., Bliley, J. M., DiBernardo, G. A., Crammond, D. J., Schilling, B. K., Sivak, W. N., Spiess, A. M., Washington, K. M., Waldner, M., Liao, H. T., James, I. B., Minteer, D. M., Tompkins-Rhoades, C., Cottrill, A. R., Kim, D. Y., Schweizer, R., Bourne, D. A., Panagis, G. E., Asher Schusterman, M., 2nd, Egro, F. M., … Marra, K. G. (2020). Long-gap peripheral nerve repair through sustained release of a neurotrophic factor in nonhuman primates. Science translational medicine, 12(527), eaav7753. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aav7753
Disciplines
Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
31969488
Department(s)
USF-LVHN SELECT Program, USF-LVHN SELECT Program Students
Document Type
Article