This study was to investigate the feasibility of PGS combined with ChABC for repairing the transection of spinal cords (TSC) in rats. A thoracic 10 (T10) TSC model of rats was employed. The effects of PGS with ChABC on the morphology and histological structure of the spinal cords, Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) scores, and the expression of GAP-43 and NF-200 were comparatively studied. The BBB scores indicated that all rats with TSC were paralyzed immediately after surgery and then recovered hind limb movement gradually, but did not fully recover until the end of week 12. The rats treated with PGS alone, ChABC alone, and PGS/ChABC recovered significantly (p < 0.05) better than the control rats with TSC only. The PGS/ChABC treated rats recovered significantly (p < 0.05) more movement function than the rats treated with PGS or ChABC treated alone. The spinal cords in the control rats showed lusterless surfaces, big holes, and big scars; in both PGS rats and ChABC rats showed lucent surfaces, small holes, and small scars; in PGS/ChABC rats showed the best. The expression of GAP-43 and NF-200 in the TSC region was hardly detected in the control rats, moderately detected in PGS or ChABC rats, and highly detected in PGS/ChABC rats. In conclusion, both PGS and ChABC alone could promote nerve regeneration and partially recover the movement function in TSC rats. A combination of PGS and ChABC resulted in augmented nerve regeneration and functional recovery. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1770-1777, 2018.
Keywords: ChABC; PGS; regeneration; spinal cord injury.
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.