Peripheral nerve regeneration using silicone rubber chambers filled with collagen, laminin and fibronectin

A 10 mm gap of rat sciatic nerve was created between the proximal and dista l nerve stumps, which were sutured into silicone rubber tubes filled with a n extracellular gel containing collagen, laminin and fibronectin. Empty sil icone rubber tubes were used as controls. Six weeks after implantation, all extracellular elements were completely degraded and absorbed, and 90% of t he animals from the extracellular gel group exhibited regeneration across t he nerve gaps, whereas only 60% in the control group. Both qualitative and quantitative histology of the regenerated nerves revealed a more mature ult rastructural organization with 28% larger cross-sectional area and 28% high er number of myelinated axons in the extracellular gel group than the contr ols. These results showed that the gel mixture of collagen, laminin and fib ronectin could offer a suitable growth medium for the regeneration of axons . (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.