Primary objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the reparative potential of a polymeric scaffold designed for brain tissue repair in combination with lipoic acid.
Research design: Histological, cytological and structural analysis of a combined treatment after a brain cryo-injury model in rats.
Methods and procedures: Adult Wistar rats were subjected to cryogenic brain injury. A channelled-porous scaffold of ethyl acrylate and hydroxyethylacrylate, p(EA-co-HEA) was grafted into cerebral penumbra alone or combined with intraperitoneal LA administration. Histological and cytological evaluation was performed after 15 and 60 days and structural magnetic resonance (MRI) assessment was performed at 2 and 6 months after the surgery.
Main outcomes and results: The scaffold was suitable for the establishment of different cellular types. The results obtained suggest that this strategy promotes blood vessels formation, decreased microglial response and neuron migration, particularly when LA was administrated.
Conclusions: These evidences demonstrated that the combination of a channelled polymer scaffold with LA administration may represent a potential treatment for neural tissue repair after brain injury.
Keywords: Brain injury; biopolymers; lipoic acid; neural repairing; oxidative stress.