ACS Biomater Sci Eng., 2019 · DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b01012 · Published: December 9, 2019
This study investigates a potential treatment for chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) using a bridge made of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG). The PLG bridge is surgically implanted into the injured spinal cord to promote tissue regeneration. The goals of this investigation were to create a reproducible chronic injury model and to show PLG bridges are a growth permissive substrate for axonal elongation and tissue reformation after chronic spinal cord injury. The study found that the PLG bridge supported axon growth and myelination in the chronic SCI model, suggesting it could be a useful platform for future therapies. The process of bridge implantation did not significantly decrease the post injury function.
PLG bridges may serve as a promising therapeutic intervention for chronic SCI by promoting axonal regeneration and myelination.
The PLG bridge provides a platform to investigate strategies to buttress and expand regeneration of neural tissue at chronic time points, such as delivering bioactive agents to promote neuron intrinsic growth and chemoattraction.
The chronic SCI model developed in this study follows emerging clinical practices and the pathophysiology of most patients, facilitating translation of findings to human studies.