Scleral surgical repair through the use of nanostructured fibrin/agarose-based films in rabbits.

Scleral surgical repair through the use of nanostructured fibrin/agarose-based films in rabbits. Exp Eye Res. 2019 Jun 29;:107717 Authors: Carriel V, Vizcaíno-López G, Chato-Astrain J, Durand-Herrera D, Alaminos M, Campos A, Sánchez-Montesinos I, Campos F Abstract Scleral defects can result as a consequence of trauma, infectious diseases or cancer and surgical repair with allogeneic scleral grafts can be required. However, this method has limitations and novel alternatives are needed. Here, the efficacy of acellular nanostructured fibrin-agarose hydrogel-based substitutes (NFAH) in the repair of scleral defects in rabbits was studied. For this, scleral defects of 5-mm diameter were made on 18 adult-male New Zealand rabbits and repaired with acellular NFAH, NFAH crosslinked with genipin (NFAH-GP) or glutaraldehyde (NFAH-GA), allogeneic scleral grafts as control (C-CTR) or not repaired (negative control N-CTR) (n = 3 each). Macroscopic and histological analyses were performed after 40-days. Macroscopy confirmed the repair of all defects in a comparable manner than the C-CTR. Histology showed no degradation nor integration in C-CTR while NFAH-GP and NFAH-GA biomaterials were encapsulated by connective and inflammatory tissues with partial biodegradation. The NFAH were fully biodegraded and replaced by a loose connective tissue and sclera covering the defects. This in vivo study demonstrated that the NFAH are a promising biocompat...
Source: Experimental Eye Research - Category: Opthalmology Authors: Tags: Exp Eye Res Source Type: research