Drug Delivery for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.

摘要

Nerve injury can occur due to penetrating wounds, compression, traumatic stretch, and cold exposure. Despite prompt repair, outcomes are dismal. In this work, a polylacticcoglycolic acid (PLGA) nerve conduit with associated biodegradable drug reservoir is designed, fabricated, tested. Devices loaded with nerve growth factor (NGF) are evaluated for sustained drug release and axon growth enhancement in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells with the released drug. In the first year of this 18 month project we have completed device fabrication of the nerve guide conduit and drug delivery reservoir. Work is continuing to assess device efficacy and biocompatibility in Sprague dawley rat sciatic nerve model.