To investigate the effectiveness of scaffold-embedded mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a topical treatment for healing tympanic membrane perforations (TMPs) in a mouse model.
Prospective animal study.
Experimental.
In vitro: under sterile conditions, porcine-derived (Gelita-Spon [GS]), hyaluronate-derived (EpiDisc [ED]), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) scaffolds were cut into small pieces and cocultured with murine bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) for 72 hours. The cultures were either analyzed by confocal microscopy or used for subsequent in vivo experiments. In vivo: 26 mice were divided into 3 groups (ie, control [n = 9], GS [n = 8], ED [n = 9]). Under general anesthesia, TMPs of equal sizes were performed bilaterally using a sterile 27-gauge needle under a surgical microscope. The BM-MSCs embedded within GS or ED scaffolds were soaked in phosphate-buffered saline and then topically applied on right TMPs, and scaffolds alone were applied on left TMPs 6 to 8 hours after injury. Control mice did not receive treatment. On day 7, animals were euthanized and bullae were harvested for histological analysis.
In vitro: BM-MSCs grew well on both GS (P = .0012) and ED (P = .0001) scaffolds compared with PVA. In vivo: 100% of untreated (control) TMPs remained open after 7 days. Animals treated with MSC-embedded ED scaffolds had a higher percentage of TMP closure (P = .016) and a thicker neotympanum (P = .0033) than control animals. The experimentally applied BM-MSCs engrafted and differentiated into epithelial cells suggested by the colocalized expression of cytokeratin-19 and GFP.
The topical application of bone marrow-derived MSCs enhances the healing of TMPs in this animal model and is a promising alternative to tympanoplasty.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 December 2020.
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#10,270,441
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Outputs of similar age from Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
#37
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Altmetric has tracked 30,642,614 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 65th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,023 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 64% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 142 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its contemporaries.
