Biodegradable fibrin conduit promotes long-term regeneration after peripheral nerve injury in adult rats

Peripheral nerve injuries are often associated with loss of nerve tissue and require autologous nerve grafts to provide a physical substrate for axonal growth. Biosynthetic neural conduits could be an alternative treatment strategy in such injuries. The present study investigates the long-term effects of a tubular fibrin conduit on neuronal regeneration, axonal sprouting and recovery of muscle weight following peripheral nerve injury and repair in adult rats. Sciatic axotomy was performed proximally in the thigh to create a 10-mm gap between the nerve stumps. The injury gap was bridged by using a 14-mm-long fibrin glue conduit, entubulating 2 mm of the nerve stump at each end. A reversed autologous nerve graft was used as a control. The regenerative response from sensory and motor neurones was evaluated following retrograde labelling with Fast Blue fluorescent tracer. In control experiments, at 16 weeks following peripheral nerve grafting, 5184 (±574 standard error of mean (SEM)) sensory dorsal root ganglion neurones and 1001 (±37 SEM) spinal motor neurones regenerated across the distal nerve-graft interface. The fibrin conduit promoted regeneration of 60% of sensory neurones and 52% of motor neurones when compared to the control group. The total number of myelinated axons in the distal nerve stump in the fibrin-conduit group reached 86% of the control and the weight of gastrocnemius and soleus muscles recovered to 82% and 89% of the controls, respectively. The present results suggest that a tubular fibrin conduit can be used to promote neuronal regeneration following peripheral nerve injury.