gms | German Medical Science

14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

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Nanoparticles-coated sutures to provide sustained delivery of growth factors significantly increased tendon healing strengths at multiple time-points

Meeting Abstract

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  • presenting/speaker Youlang Zhou - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • Qianqian Yang - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • Yingying Yian - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • Luzhong Zhang - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • Shuguo Xing - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • Jinbo Tang - Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSSH19-51

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh1124, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh11249

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Zhou et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objectives/Interrogation: Rupture of the tendon is a common injury and often requires surgical treatment due to limited tendon healing capacity. The objective of this study is to test effectiveness of our designed nanoparticles-coated sutures carrying growth factors in accelerating tendon repair.

Methods: In this study, we developed a novel therapeutic approach to apply nanoparticles loaded with bFGF and VEGFA to sutures, and the effects of bFGF and VEGFA releasing sutures were tested in the chicken flexor tendon healing model. 72 toe flexor tendons were completely transected and repaired with bFGF and VEGFA-releasing sutures, bFGF-releasing sutures, VEGFA-releasing sutures and non-treatment control sutures. At 2, 4 and 6 weeks after surgery, ultimate strengths of healing tendons were evaluated in an Instron mechanical testing machine. Adhesions were scored and tendon gliding excursion and work of digital flexion were measured at week 6. We used two-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc Dunnett's t-test to analyze the differences in the ultimate strengths of repaired tendons, adhesion scores, gliding excursions and work of digital flexion.

Results and Conclusions: The ultimate strengths of repaired tendons treated with bFGF and VEGFA-releasing sutures (8.5±0.8N, 28.4±8.0N, 76.2±22.5N, at week 2, 4, 6, respectively) was significantly greater than the tendons repaired with non-treatment control sutures (5.7±1.5N, 13.7±6.8N, 48.6±9.2N, at week 2, 4, 6, respectively) at their corresponding time-points (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). At 6 weeks, adhesion scores in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group (3.1±0.4) were significantly smaller than those of the non-treatment control suture group (3.9±0.4) (p=0.005). Tendon gliding excursions were significantly greater in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group (15±3mm) than in the unmodified control sutures (11±1mm) (p=0.006). Work of digital flexion was significantly decreased in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group (0.01±0.004J) than in the non-treatment control group (0.04±0.019J) (p=0.005).

We developed a novel platform for local and sustained delivery of growth factors based on the nanoparticles-coated sutures, which can effectively deliver growth factors to tissues and control the release of growth factors. Dual growth factors loaded nanoparticles-coated sutures can significantly promote tendon healing. This growth factors delivery system is an attractive therapeutic tool to repair injured tendons.