Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37925923›Full record

ArticleJournal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS2023

Functional outcomes of nerve allografts augmented with mesenchymal stem cells and surgical angiogenesis in a rat sciatic nerve defect model.

Meiwand Bedar, Tiam M Saffari, Femke Mathot, Alexander Y Shin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Advancing Peripheral Nerve Regeneration (Nerve SPACE 2025).Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Meiwand BedarDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Plastic Surgery, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Tiam M SaffariDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Plastic Surgery, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Femke MathotDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Plastic Surgery, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Alexander Y ShinDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Electronic address: shin.alexander@mayo.edu.

Funding

Bridging the gap: Angiogenesis and stem cell seeding of processed nerve allograftR01NS102360 · NINDS · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · PI SHIN, ALEXANDER Y. · 2018 to 2022
$1.7M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS102360
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMotor function recovery following acellular nerve allograft (ANA) repair remains inferior to autologous nerve reconstruction. We investigated the functional recovery of ANAs after combined mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) delivery and surgical angiogenesis in a rat sciatic nerve defect model.

methodsIn 100 Lewis rats, unilateral sciatic nerve defects were reconstructed with (I) autografts, (II) ANAs, (III) ANAs wrapped with a superficial inferior epigastric artery fascial (SIEF) flap, combined with either (IV) undifferentiated MSCs or (V) Schwann cell-like differentiated MSCs. The tibialis anterior muscle area was evaluated during the survival period using ultrasonography. Functional recovery, histomorphometry, and immunofluorescence were assessed at 12 and 16 weeks.

resultsAt 12 weeks, the addition of surgical angiogenesis and MSCs improved ankle contractures. The SIEF flap also significantly improved compound muscle action potential (CMAP) outcomes compared with ANAs. Autografts outperformed all groups in muscle force and weight. At 16 weeks, ankle contractures of ANAs remained inferior to autografts and SIEF, whereas the CMAP amplitude was comparable between groups. The muscle force of autografts remained superior to all other groups, and the muscle weight of ANAs remained inferior to autografts. No differences were found in histomorphometry outcomes between SIEF groups and ANAs. Vascularity, determined by CD34 staining, was significantly higher in SIEF groups compared with ANAs.

conclusionsThe combination of surgical angiogenesis and MSCs did not result in a synergistic improvement in functional outcomes. In a short nerve gap model, the adipofascial flap may provide sufficient MSCs to ANAs without additional ex vivo MSC seeding.

Indexed as

ContractureMesenchymal Stem CellsAllograftsAnimalsNerve RegenerationRatsRats, Inbred LewSciatic NerveAcellular nerve allograftFunctional motor outcomesMesenchymal stem cellsPeripheral nerve injurySchwann cell-like cellsSurgical angiogenesis

Identifiers

PMID37925923
PMCPMC10842349

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.