%0 Journal Article
%T Treatment of a Spinal Cord Hemitransection Injury with Keratin Biomaterial Hydrogel Elicits Recovery and Tissue Repair
%A Bailey V. Fearing
%A Christopher Hartley
%A Orrin Dayton
%A Garrett Sherwood
%A Tamer AbouShwareb
%A Mark E. Van Dyke
%J ISRN Biomaterials
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/426047
%X Medical care costs can reach an estimated value of $4 billion for spinal cord injuries (SCI) each year in the USA alone. With no viable treatment options available, care remains palliative and aims to minimize lifelong disabilities and complications, such as immobility, bladder and bowel dysfunction, breathing problems, and blood clots. Human hair keratin biomaterials have demonstrated efficacy in peripheral nerve injury models and were shown to improve conduction delay and increase axon number and density. In this study, a keratin hydrogel was tested in a central nervous system (CNS) application of spinal cord hemisection injury. Keratin-treated rats showed increased survival rates as well as a better functional recovery of gait properties and bladder function. Histological results demonstrated reduced glial scar formation with keratin treatment and suggested a greater degree of beneficial remodeling and cellular influx. The data provided in this pilot study suggest the possibility of using a keratin-based treatment for SCI and warrant further investigation. 1. Introduction More than 2.5 million people worldwide are effected by spinal cord injuries (SCI), with approximately 12,000 new cases each year in USA alone [1]. The majority of these cases are caused by motor vehicle accidents (36.5%) and falls (28.5%) and predominantly affect young males (80.7%) [1]. Depending on the extent of the injury, survivors can experience severe lifelong disabilities, including immobility, pressure sores, autonomic dysreflexia, neurogenic pain, and breathing problems. Most SCIs will interrupt bladder and bowel functions because the nerves controlling these processes originate in the lower segments of the spinal cord and are subsequently cut off from brain input. In the case of the bladder, loss of neural input causes voiding to become abnormal and thus requires the chronic use of catheters. SCI injury has an even greater impact when lifetime costs are considered, which easily reach millions per patient. Medical care costs alone reach an estimated value of $4 billion per year in USA [2]. Taking into account the fact that the majority of patients are young, active people who are now relegated to long-term palliative care, these numbers increase even more when considering loss of productivity and income wages [1]. Treatment options after SCI are limited, and life expectancies have not improved for patients since the 1980s. The use of the steroid methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) has fallen out of favor for many clinicians because of the lack of neurological
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.biomaterials/2014/426047/