Difficulty breathing due to tracheal stenosis (i.e. narrowed airway) diminishes the quality of life and can potentially be life-threatening. Tracheal stenosis can be caused by congenital anomalies, external trauma, infection, intubation-related injury, and tumors. Common treatment methods for tracheal stenosis requiring surgical intervention include end-to-end anastomosis, slide tracheoplasty and/or laryngotracheal reconstruction. Although the current methods have demonstrated promise for treatment of tracheal stenosis, a clear need exists for the development of new biomaterials that can hold the trachea open after the stenosed region has been surgically opened, and that can support healing without the need to harvest autologous tissue from the patient. The current study therefore evaluated the use of electrospun nanofiber scaffolds encapsulating 3D-printed PCL rings to patch induced defects in rabbit tracheas. The nanofibers were a blend of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactide-co-caprolactone (PLCL), and encapsulated either the cell adhesion peptide, RGD, or antimicrobial compound, ceragenin-131 (CSA). Blank PCL/PLCL and PCL were employed as control groups. Electrospun patches were evaluated in a rabbit tracheal defect model for 12 weeks, which demonstrated re-epithelialization of the luminal side of the defect. No significant difference in lumen volume was observed for the PCL/PLCL patches compared to the uninjured positive control. Only the RGD group did not lead to a significant decrease in the minimum cross-sectional area compared to the uninjured positive control. CSA reduced bacteria growth in vitro, but did not add clear value in vivo. Adequate tissue in-growth into the patches and minimal tissue overgrowth was observed inside the patch material. Areas of future investigation include tuning the material degradation time to balance cell adhesion and structural integrity.

中文翻译：

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含有细胞粘附或抗菌化合物的可生物降解电纺贴片，用于体内气管修复。


气管狭窄（即气道狭窄）导致的呼吸困难会降低生活质量，并可能危及生命。气管狭窄可由先天异常、外伤、感染、插管相关损伤和肿瘤引起。需要手术干预的气管狭窄的常见治疗方法包括端端吻合术、滑动气管成形术和/或喉气管重建术。尽管目前的方法已证明治疗气管狭窄的前景，但显然需要开发新的生物材料，这种材料可以在手术打开狭窄区域后保持气管打开，并且可以支持愈合而无需采集自体组织来自患者。因此，当前的研究评估了使用封装 3D 打印 PCL 环的静电纺纳米纤维支架来修补兔子气管中引起的缺陷。纳米纤维是聚己内酯 (PCL) 和聚丙交酯己内酯 (PLCL) 的混合物，并封装细胞粘附肽 RGD 或抗菌化合物 ceragenin-131 (CSA)。采用空白PCL/PLCL和PCL作为对照组。在兔气管缺损模型中对电纺补片进行了为期 12 周的评估，结果表明缺损管腔侧的上皮化。与未受伤的阳性对照相比，PCL/PLCL 贴片的管腔体积没有显着差异。与未受伤的阳性对照相比，只有RGD组没有导致最小横截面积的显着减小。 CSA 在体外减少细菌生长，但在体内没有增加明显的价值。在贴片材料内部观察到足够的组织向内生长，并且观察到最小的组织过度生长。 未来研究的领域包括调整材料降解时间以平衡细胞粘附和结构完整性。