Combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with new nerve conduits for repair of peripheral nerve defects / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:With the continuous development and progress of medical model, the treatment and rehabilitation recovery from peripheral nerve defects needs higher requirements; therefore, stem cel culture-based nerve tissue engineering technology provides a new strategy for nerve defect repair. OBJECTIVE:To explore the feasibility of combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels and new nerve conduits to repair peripheral nerve defects. METHODS:Fifty New Zealand white rabbits, clean grade, were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, with 25 rabbits in each group. Animal models of peripheral nerve defects were made about 15 mm distant to the middle segment of the radius of the rabbit foreleg. At 1 week after modeling, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels/new nerve conduit composite material was implanted into the defect in the experimental group; and in the control group, only bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels were transplantation. At 4 weeks after transplantation, a 5-mm nerve fiber was taken from the defect site, stained with hematoxylin-eosin and observed under scanning electron microscope. Density and diameter of regenerated nerve fibers were compared between the two groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group, the density of nerve fibers was significantly higher in the experimental group, but the diameter of nerve fibers was significantly lower (P < 0.05). There were more cels with good growth, large size and many processes on the surface of regenerated nerve tissues in the experimental group than the control group. Moreover, in the experimental group, interconnected cels were woven into a mesh and the axons were longer and thicker, both of which were the performance of typical neuron-like cels. Taken together, the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels/new nerve conduit composite material can be used for peripheral nerve repair and present exact achievements.