Effect of acellular artery combined with medical aural and encephalic glue in repair of rabbit facial nerve defects

Objective To explore the feasibility of the reconstruction of transected facial nerves with rabbit allogeneic decellularized artery combined with medical aural and encephalic (EC) glue. Methods Ten New Zealand white rabbits were used to obtain allogeneic decellularized artery, which were detected by HE staining and Masson staining.Fifteen New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups -the decellularized artery-EC glue group, the decellularized artery group and the autologous nerve control group.The fifteen rabbits were used to establish the model of 10 mm gap on buccal branch of the facial nerve, and three kinds of nerve grafts mentioned above were used to repair the gaps.The animals were observed generally at 1, 4, 12 weeks after operation.At 12 weeks after surgery, the nerve grafts and surrounding tissues in each group were generally observed.Then, the nerve grafts were evaluated with histological examination, and the statistical analysis of the density of myelinated nerve fibers, the thickness of the myelin sheaths and the diameter of the axons were compared between the three groups. Results After decellularization, no cellular components but extracellular matrixc (ECM) collagen fibers remained in fabricated allogeneic decellularized artery confirmed by HE staining and Masson staining.No obvious inflammation response and swelling were observed at the operation side at 1 week, 4 weeks after operation with no free movement of the lips at the surgical side.At 12 weeks after surgery, the symmetry of rabbits' mouths in the decellularized artery-EC glue group restored less than that in the autologous nerve control group, but greater than that in the decellularized artery group.The nerve grafts in the decellularized artery group collapsed compared with the other two groups.The density of myelinated fibers (12 608.61±163.48 n/mm²), the thickness of myelin sheaths(680.16±114.23 nm) and the diameter of the axons (5.03±0.42 μm) in the decellularized artery-EC glue group were less than the density of myelinated fibers (18 573.93±68.65 n/mm²), the thickness of myelin sheaths (1 165.7±184.64 nm) and the diameter of the axons(5.52±0.28μm) in the autologous nerve control group, but greater than the density of myelinated fibers (9 571.34±131.45 n/mm²), the thickness of myelin sheaths (204.13±70.65 nm) and the diameter of the axons (4.61±0.55 μm) in the decellularized artery group(P＜ 0.05, respectively). Conclusion Allogeneic decellularized artery combined with EC glue is a useful method to reduce the collapse after decellularized artery implantation and to promote the nerve regeneration effectively in repairing of rabit facial nerve defects.