Fibrin-based tissue engineering scaffolds enhance neural fiber sprouting and delays the accumulation of reactive astrocytes at the lesion in a subacute model of spinal cord injury

This study aimed to see how fibrin scaffolds affect spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. Two weeks after the injury, researchers implanted fibrin scaffolds into the damaged area and observed the effects at 2 and 4 weeks. The study found that fibrin scaffolds promoted nerve fiber growth into the injury site. The accumulation of reactive astrocytes, which can hinder regeneration, was also delayed. These findings suggest that fibrin can help with regeneration and cell movement in the injured spinal cord. Fibrin could be a useful scaffold for delivering drugs or cells to treat SCI.

• 1
  Fibrin scaffolds significantly increased neural fiber staining in the lesion site at 2 and 4 weeks after treatment compared to untreated controls.
• 2
  The accumulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive reactive astrocytes surrounding the lesion was delayed in the fibrin-treated group.
• 3
  Pre-polymerized fibrin scaffolds were more effective for implantation than in situ polymerized scaffolds, remaining present within the lesion site 1 week after treatment.