Mechanical, topographical and chemical cues combined with physical therapy for peripheral nerve injuries

• Published in: Regenerative medicine Vol. 15; no. 10; pp. 2193 - 2207
• Main Authors: Whitehead, Tonya J, Mays, Elizabeth A, Prasad, Monica, Mora, Anthony, Chen, Chaoyang, Mazhari, Assadollah, Peduzzi, Jean, Sundararaghavan, Harini G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Future Medicine Ltd 01-10-2020
• Subjects: CMAP; hyaluronic acid; microspheres; nanofibers; nerve growth conduit; nerve regeneration; physical therapy; microspheres; CMAP; nerve regeneration; physical therapy; nanofibers; hyaluronic acid; nerve growth conduit
• ISSN: 1746-0751; 1746-076X
• DOI: 10.2217/rme-2020-0059

The aim of this paper is to evaluate biomaterial cues combined with physical therapy (PT) on functional recovery in a rat sciatic nerve injury model.
Nerve growth conduits were filled with longitudinally aligned hyaluronic acid fibers and microspheres containing neurotrophic factor (growth factor [GF]). All animals received behavior and functional testing throughout the study, which concluded with measurement of compound muscle action potentials and contractile force of the gastrocnemius muscle.
Including GF improved recovery of gross motor function and increased sensory pain sensation. During the 4 weeks that animals participated in PT, these groups showed higher static sciatic index scores. Including GF and PT has the potential to improve clinical outcomes following peripheral nerve injury.