McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, 3450 Hamilton Walk, 371 Stemmler Hall, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6081, USA.
Marine Polymer Technologies, Inc., 1 Van De Graaff Drive, Suite 302, Burlington, MA, 01803, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2021 Feb;49(2):515-522. doi: 10.1007/s10439-020-02711-w. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
The Achilles tendon, while the strongest and largest tendon in the body, is frequently injured. Even after surgical repair, patients risk re-rupture and long-term deficits in function. Poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (sNAG) polymer has been shown to increase the rate of healing of venous leg ulcers, and use of this material improved tendon-to-bone healing in a rat model of rotator cuff injury. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the healing properties of liquid sNAG polymer suspension in a rat partial Achilles tear model. We hypothesized that repeated sNAG injections throughout healing would improve Achilles tendon healing as measured by improved mechanical properties and cellular morphology compared to controls. Results demonstrate that sNAG has a positive effect on rat Achilles tendon healing at three weeks after a full thickness, partial width injury. sNAG treatment led to increased quasistatic tendon stiffness, and increased tangent and secant stiffness throughout fatigue cycling protocols. Increased dynamic modulus also suggests improved viscoelastic properties with sNAG treatment. No differences were identified in histological properties. Importantly, use of this material did not have any negative effects on any measured parameter. These results support further study of this material as a minimally invasive treatment modality for tendon healing.
跟身体里其他的肌腱相比，跟腱最强壮、最大，但也最容易受伤。就算经过了手术修复，患者也仍有再次断裂的风险，而且长期功能受限。多聚-N-乙酰葡糖胺（sNAG）聚合物已被证实可以加速静脉性腿部溃疡的愈合，在大鼠旋转袖损伤模型中，这种材料的使用也改善了肌腱-骨的愈合。因此，本研究旨在探究液体 sNAG 聚合物悬浮液在大鼠部分跟腱撕裂模型中的愈合特性。我们假设，与对照组相比，在愈合过程中多次注射 sNAG 可以改善跟腱的愈合，具体表现在机械性能和细胞形态的改善。结果表明，在全层、部分宽度损伤后 3 周，sNAG 对大鼠跟腱愈合有积极影响。sNAG 治疗导致跟腱准静态刚度增加，在整个疲劳循环方案中，切向和正割刚度也增加。动态模量的增加也表明 sNAG 治疗后粘弹性得到改善。组织学特性没有差异。重要的是，这种材料的使用对任何测量参数都没有任何负面影响。这些结果支持进一步研究这种材料作为治疗肌腱愈合的微创治疗方法。
