Turkish Neurosurgery 2017 , Vol 27 , Num 4
Nerve Tissue Prefabrication Inside the Rat Femoral Bone: Does It Work?
Zuhtu OZBEK1,Atacan Emre KOCMAN2,Orhan OZATIK3,Erdem SOZTUTAR4,Emre OZKARA1,Aydan KOSE2,Ali ARSLANTAS1,Cengiz CETIN2,
1Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Medical Faculty, Department of Neurosurgery, Eskisehir, Turkey
2Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Medical Faculty, Department of Plastic Surgery, Eskisehir, Turkey
3Ahi Evran University, Medical Faculty, Department of Histology and Embryology, Kırsehir, Turkey
4Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Medical Faculty, Department of Anatomy, Eskisehir, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.16604-15.0 AIM: To investigate whether nerve regeneration can be induced in the tubular bone between distal and proximal cut nerve ends.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Twenty adult Wistar rats were used for the study. Rats were divided into three groups; femoral bone conduit group, nerve transection group, sham group. The sciatic nerve was surgically cut and from both ends inserted into the adjacent femoral bone tunnel in the femoral bone conduit group. The sciatic nerve was cut transversely in the nerve transection group. In the Sham group, only sciatic nerve exploration was performed, without a nerve cut. The groups were evaluated functionally and morphologically.

RESULTS: All results showed that axonal growth existed through the osseous canal.

CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate neural regeneration inside the bone. We can speculate that the bone marrow provides a convenient microenvironment for peripheral nerve regeneration. In addition to prefabricating peripheral nerves, this novel model may help to establish further strategies for engineering of other tissues in the bone marrow. Keywords : Bone, Conduit, Sciatic nerve

Corresponding author : Zühtü ÖZBEK, zuhtuozbek@gmail.com