Targeted Delivery of Nerve Growth Factor via Fibronectin Conduits Assists Nerve Regeneration in Control and Diabetic Rats

This study examined the influence of fibronectin conduits joining two halves of a sectioned sciatic nerve, with and without preimpregnation with nerve growth factor, on regeneration in rats with streptozotocin‐induced diabetes mellitus. Regeneration, measured morphometrically in fibres containing immunoreactivity to calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and GAP‐43, was significantly less (P < 0.0001 for all comparisons) in diabetic rats with fibronectin mat grafts without nerve growth factor compared to similarly treated controls. Regeneration distances in diabetic rats were reduced to 43% (CGRP‐reactive fibres) and 44% (GAP‐43‐reactive fibres) of controls, and the total amounts of immunoreactivities in the conduits were also reduced, though by lesser amounts (55 and 61% of controls respectively). Impregnation of the conduits with nerve growth factor before implantation increased the distance and amounts of regenerating immunoreactivity in both control and diabetic rats for both CGRP and GAP‐43, such that these regeneration parameters were similar in nerve growth factor‐treated diabetic rats to those in control rats implanted with untreated fibronectin mat conduits. These findings implicate impaired neurotrophic support in the defective regeneration characteristic of diabetic neuropathy.