Department of Plastic, Hand, and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical School Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater. 2011 May;97(2):381-7. doi: 10.1002/jbm.b.31825. Epub 2011 Mar 22.
Inhibition of axonal outgrowth accompanied by neuroma formation appears in microsurgical nerve repair as reaction to common microsuture materials like silk, nylon, or polyglycolic acid. In contrast, recent findings revealed advantages of spider silk fibers in guiding Schwann cells in nerve regeneration. Here, we asked if we could braid microsutures from native spider silk fibers. Microsutures braided of native spider dragline silk were manufactured, containing either 2 × 15 or 3 × 10 single fibres strands. Morphologic appearance was studied and tensile strength and stress-strain ratio (SSR) were calculated. The constructed spider silk sutures showed a median thickness of 25 μm, matching the USP definition of 10-0. Maximum load and tensile strength for both spider silk microsutures were significantly more than 2-fold higher than for nylon suture; SSR was 1.5-fold higher. All values except elasticity were higher in 3 × 10 strand sutures compared to 2 × 15 strand sutures, but not significantly. In this pilot study, we demonstrate the successful manufacture of microsutures from spider silk. With regards to the mechanical properties, these sutures were superior to nylon sutures. As spider silk displays high biocompatibility in nerve regeneration, its usage in microsurgical nerve repair should be considered.
在神经显微修复中，轴突生长受到抑制并伴有神经瘤形成，这是对普通的显微缝合材料（如丝、尼龙或聚乙醇酸）的反应。相比之下，最近的研究结果显示蜘蛛丝纤维在引导雪旺细胞神经再生方面具有优势。在这里，我们想知道是否可以编织天然蜘蛛丝纤维的显微缝线。我们制造了由天然蜘蛛牵引丝编织而成的显微缝线，其中包含 2×15 或 3×10 根单纤维股线。研究了它们的形态外观，并计算了拉伸强度和应变速率比（SSR）。所构建的蜘蛛丝缝线的平均厚度为 25μm，符合 USP 对 10-0 缝线的定义。两种蜘蛛丝显微缝线的最大负载和拉伸强度都比尼龙缝线高出两倍以上；SSR 高出 1.5 倍。除弹性外，3×10 股缝线的所有值均高于 2×15 股缝线，但差异无统计学意义。在这项初步研究中，我们成功地制造了由蜘蛛丝制成的显微缝线。就机械性能而言，这些缝线优于尼龙缝线。由于蜘蛛丝在神经再生中具有很高的生物相容性，因此应考虑将其用于显微神经修复。
