Utilizing biomaterials for laryngeal respiratory mucosal tissue repair in an animal model

Introduction

The airway mucosa plays a crucial role in protection and various physiological functions. Current methods for restoring airway mucosa, such as myocutaneous flaps or split skin grafts, create a stratified squamous layer that lacks the cilia and mucus-secreting glands of the native columnar-lined airway. This study examines the application of various injectable biopolymers as active molecules for a potential approach to regenerating laryngeal epithelial tissue.

Methods

The sample includes nine healthy dogs of the same breed. First, the medical engineering team prepared three types of biosynthetic materials (alginate, PGS, and chitosan) in a standard laboratory setting. After the induction of anesthesia in animals, the upper surface of the true vocal cords was bilaterally incised and denuded to create a uniform injury site. Biomaterials were applied to one side (intervention side), while the contralateral side served as the control and received no treatment. The length of the affected area after induction of injury, as observed in the microscopic view, was analyzed in relation to the effects of biomaterials, including epithelial hyperplasia, inflammation, granulation bed formation, angiogenesis, and fibroplasia.

Results

The mean standard deviation (SD) of epithelial hyperplasia scores, inflammatory scores, angiogenesis scores, and fibroplasia scores were not significantly different between the groups. However, the mean (SD) of granulation tissue bed score among the alginate [3.33 (1.15)], PGS [2.33 (0.58)], chitosan [3.33 (0.58)], and control [4.67 (0.58)] groups was significantly different between groups (p = 0.03).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that a biopolymer has a positive effect on the repair of laryngeal epithelial tissue in an animal model without considering the impact of laryngeal movements.