School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, China.
Engineering Research Center for Waste Oil Recovery Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, China.
J Biomater Appl. 2023 Oct;38(4):471-483. doi: 10.1177/08853282231200963. Epub 2023 Sep 5.
Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is one of the major clinical treatment challenges following an impact on the body. When PNI manifests as nerve gaps, surgical connections and exogenous grafts are required. Recently, electrically conductive polymers (CPs) based nerve guidance conduits have yielded promising results for treating PNI. Polypyrrole (PPy) has become one of the most commonly used CPs in PNI repair due to its advantages of high conductivity and excellent biocompatibility. In this study, we combined different PPy concentrations with a chitosan (CS) temperature-sensitive hydrogel system containing decellularized nerve matrix (DNM) to construct the electrically conductive nerve conduits. We evaluated the physical and biological properties of four groups of nerve conduits. It was found that the PPy concentrations were proportional to the electrical conductivity of the nerve conduits. The mechanical properties of the nerve conduits increased with higher PPy concentrations but decreased when the PPy concentration was as high as 8%. Meanwhile, the co-blending of PPy and DNM gave the nerve conduit suitable degradation properties. Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity assay and live/dead assay demonstrated these conduits could support the adhesion and growth of cells. In summary, the electrically conductive nerve conduits with high conductivity, mechanical properties, biodegradation characteristics, and cytocompatibility had potential applications in the field of peripheral nerve regeneration.
周围神经损伤（PNI）是身体受到撞击后主要的临床治疗挑战之一。当 PNI 表现为神经间隙时，需要进行手术连接和外源性移植。最近，基于导电聚合物（CPs）的神经引导导管在治疗 PNI 方面取得了有希望的结果。聚吡咯（PPy）由于其高导电性和优异的生物相容性而成为 PNI 修复中最常用的 CPs 之一。在这项研究中，我们将不同浓度的 PPy 与含有去细胞神经基质（DNM）的壳聚糖（CS）温敏水凝胶系统相结合，构建了导电神经导管。我们评估了四组神经导管的物理和生物学特性。结果发现，PPy 浓度与神经导管的电导率成正比。神经导管的机械性能随着 PPy 浓度的升高而增加，但当 PPy 浓度高达 8%时，机械性能下降。同时，PPy 和 DNM 的共混赋予了神经导管适当的降解特性。此外，体外细胞毒性试验和活/死试验表明，这些导管能够支持细胞的黏附和生长。综上所述，具有高导电性、机械性能、生物降解特性和细胞相容性的导电神经导管在周围神经再生领域具有潜在的应用前景。
