Peripheral nerve tissue regeneration

Peripheral nerve block is created by injecting ethanol around the selected nerve. The effect of alcohol on nerve tissue has been examined in animal models and in postmortem specimens from patients who received neurolytic blocks (8,9). In general, alcohol causes destruction of nerve fibers, with subsequent Wallerian degeneration. The basal lamina around the Schwann cell usually remains intact. This leaves a tract available for axon regeneration without the formation of a neuroma. If the cell bodies are completely destroyed, regeneration will not occur. Contact of alcohol with unintended nerve roots underlies many of the more serious complications. Involvement of anterior rootlets sufficient to interrupt motor nerve function will result in muscle weakness or paralysis. Interruption of... 

Berry, M., Carlile, J., and Hunter, A., Optic nerve regeneration after intravitreal peripheral nerve implants axons growing through optic nerve wound sites both inhibit the formation of new and penetrate established scar tissue, J. Neurocytol., 26,1998, in press. 

Mosahebi, A., Wiberg, M., Terenghi, G. Addition of fibronectin to alginate matrix improves peripheral nerve regeneration in tissue-engineered conduits. Tissue Engineering. 2003, 9, 209-218. 

Various electrospun nanofibers made of PCL, PCL/hydroxyapatite, polystyrene, and SF were surface-modified by air or argon plasma, resulting in an improved cell adhesion and proliferation (Venugopal et al. 2008 Prabhakaran et al. 2008 Yang et al. 2008). PCL nanofibrous scaffolds were surface-modified by a simple plasma treatment process to enhance the Schwann cell adhesion, proliferation, and interactions with the nanofibers necessary for nerve tissue formation (Prabhakaran et al. 2008). The results showed that plasma-treated PCL nanofibrous scaffolds are a cost-effective material compared with PCL/collagen scaffolds and can potentially serve as an ideal tissue-engineered scaffold, especially for peripheral nerve regeneration. 

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