Sodium alginate film promotes the regeneration of injured sciatic nerve in rats / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:The sodium alginate film, jointly developed by our research team and the Institute of Polymer Material of Qingdao University, has good biocompatibility and is often used for the preparation of a variety of composite materials. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of sodium alginate film wrapping and covering nerve anastomotic stoma on the regeneration of injured sciatic nerve in rats. METHODS: A total of 36 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups after the right sciatic nerve was cut. Control group The nerve stump was sutured through epineurial end-to-end anastomosis; Experimental group The nerve stump was sutured through epineurial end-to-end anastomosis, and wrapped with sodium alginate film, forming a regenerative environment for sciatic nerve regeneration. The degradation and absorption of sodium alginate film, as wel as the adhesion at suture site were observed post-operation. Interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 positive expression was detected with immunohistochemistry method. The histological sections were also detected with hematoxylin-eosin staining and osmium tetroxide staining. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 4-6 weeks post-operation, sodium alginate film was mostly degraded and absorbed in the experimental group. The experimental group rats had less local adhesion, slighter infiltration of inflammatory cels, and fewer fiber tissue hyperplasia than control group rats. The contents of interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 were almost the same between the control and experimental groups at 1, 7, 14 days post-operation. At 6 weeks, the regenerated nerve fibers were distributed evenly with uniform shape, the number of nerve fibers, axons and myelin sheath were significantly better than the control group (P < 0.05). Sodium alginate film has good biological degradability and histocompatibility and plays an important role in promoting sciatic nerve regeneration.