Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the properties and application of different biomaterials in the process of nerve injured repaired by tissue engineering technology, and to search a substitute material with good biocompatibility.
METHODS: Using “tissue engineering, nerve injury, repair, biological material, nerve cells, collagen protein” as the key words, a computer research was performed for articles published between January 2006 and June 2010. Articles related to the biomaterials and tissue engineered nerves were included; repeated study or Meta analysis articles were excluded. Totally thirty literatures mainly discusses the variety and properties of tissue engineered materials for nerve repair.
RESULTS: Although autologous tissues have good effect to repair the nerve defects, their source is limited. Allogenic or heterogenic materials may expand the material source, but immunological reaction affects the effect of repairing the nerve impairment. Non-degradable materials are toxic, can lead to foreign body reaction, hinder nerve growth or compress regenerated tissues, always require secondary operation to take out, while degradable materials can overcome those shortcomings, but with poor hydrophilicity and cell adhesion, insufficient mechanical strength, and leading to aseptic inflammation.
CONCLUSION: Tissue engineered nerve scaffolds have been developed rapidly in recent years, there is no ideal scaffold material. Although natural biomaterials have become the study hotspot, their physical and mechanical properties are not good enough to meet the occurrence of new materials, thus better meet the nerve scaffolds requirement, to achieve the repair and reconstruction effects.