Although the peripheral nerve system has a relatively good regenerating capacity compared to the central nerve system, peripheral nerve repair remains a clinical challenge as restoration of normal nerve function is highly variable. Synthetic tubular nerve conduits were designed as an alternative repair method in order to replace the need for an isograft. These nerve conduits guide regenerating axons from the proximal toward the distal end, maintain within growth-promoting molecules released by the nerve stumps, and protect regenerating axons from infiltrating scar tissue. In this work, we prepared cinnamoylated alginate (CA)-collagen-chitosan nerve conduit using the lyophilization method to generate a controllable parallel channel in the center and then investigated its influence on peripheral nerve regeneration in an animal study. At 12 weeks after implantation, histological study showed that tissue cable was continuously bridging the gap of the sciatic nerve in all rats. Our newly developed nerve conduit is a promising tool for use in peripheral nerve regeneration and provides a suitable experimental model for future clinical application.

No abstract

No abstract

In this research, the in vitro anti-thrombogenecity of artificial materials was evaluated using hydrophilic/ hydrophobic copolymers containing oligosaccharide as hydrophilic moiety and phospholipid as hydrophobic moiety respectively. N-(p-vinylbenzyl)-[O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 →4)] n-1 -D-glucoamide (VM7A) was adopted as hydrophilic oligosaccharide and 2-acryloxybutyl-2-(triethylammonium)ethyl phosphoric acid (HBA-choline) was adopted as hydrophobic phospholipid. Copolymers having various monomer feeding molar ratios were synthesized through radical polymerization. The synthesized copolymers were identified using FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, XPS, and DSC. The surface energy of the copolymers were evaluated by dynamic contact angle (DCA) method and checked different roles of VM7A as hydrophilic moiety and HBA-choline as hydrophobic moiety on surface. The surface morphological differences between hydrated and unhydrated surfaces of copolymers were observed and evaluated using AFM. The platelets were separated from canine whole blood by centrifugation and adopted to the anti-thromobogenecity test of the copolymers. From the results, we find out that as VM7A ratio increases, so did anti-thrombogenecity. Such results show the possibility of using these copolymers as blood compatible materials in living body.