Methacrylate hydrogels have been extensively used as bridging scaffolds in experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) research. As synthetic materials, they can be modified, which leads to improved bridging of the lesion. Fibronectin, a glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix produced by reactive astrocytes after SCI, is known to promote cell adhesion. We implanted 3 methacrylate hydrogels: a scaffold based on hydroxypropylmethacrylamid (HPMA), 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) and a HEMA hydrogel with an attached fibronectin (HEMA-Fn) in an experimental model of acute SCI in rats. The animals underwent functional evaluation once a week and the spinal cords were histologically assessed 3 months after hydrogel implantation. We found that both the HPMA and the HEMA-Fn hydrogel scaffolds lead to partial sensory improvement compared to control animals and animals treated with plain HEMA scaffold. The HPMA scaffold showed an increased connective tissue infiltration compared to plain HEMA hydrogels. There was a tendency towards connective tissue infiltration and higher blood vessel ingrowth in the HEMA-Fn scaffold. HPMA hydrogels showed a significantly increased axonal ingrowth compared to HEMA-Fn and plain HEMA; while there were some neurofilaments in the peripheral as well as the central region of the HEMA-Fn scaffold, no neurofilaments were found in plain HEMA hydrogels. In conclusion, HPMA hydrogel as well as the HEMA-Fn scaffold showed better bridging qualities compared to the plain HEMA hydrogel, which resulted in very limited partial sensory improvement.

• Klíčová slova
• connective tissue, hydrogel, locomotor test, neurofilaments, plantar test, spinal cord injury,
• MeSH
• axony fyziologie   MeSH
• biokompatibilní materiály MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• exprese genu MeSH
• extracelulární matrix metabolismus   MeSH
• fyziologická neovaskularizace MeSH
• hematoencefalická bariéra metabolismus   MeSH
• hojení ran MeSH
• hydrogely * MeSH
• krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
• methakryláty * chemie   MeSH
• modely nemocí na zvířatech MeSH
• pojivová tkáň MeSH
• poranění míchy etiologie   metabolismus   patologie   terapie   MeSH
• regenerace nervu * MeSH
• tkáňové podpůrné struktury MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biokompatibilní materiály MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• hydrogely * MeSH
• methakryláty * MeSH