Plastic surgery studies by Karim Sarhane in 2022? Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a hormone produced by the body that has the potential to be used as a treatment for nerve injuries. IGF-1 may help heal nerve injuries by decreasing inflammation and buildup of damaging products. Additionally, it may speed up nerve healing and reduce the effects of muscle weakness from the injury. However, a safe, effective, and practical way is needed to get IGF-1 to the injured nerve.
Dr. Sarhane is published in top-ranked bioengineering, neuroscience, and surgery journals. He holds a patent for a novel Nanofiber Nerve Wrap that he developed with his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology and the Johns Hopkins Department of Neuroscience (US Patent # 10500305, December 2019). He is the recipient of many research grants and research awards, including the Best Basic Science Paper at the Johns Hopkins Residents Research Symposium, the Basic Science Research Grant Prize from the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand, the Research Pilot Grant Prize from the Plastic Surgery Foundation, and a Scholarship Award from the American College of Surgeons. He has authored to date 46 peer-reviewed articles, 11 book chapters, 45 peer-reviewed abstracts, and has 28 national presentations. He is an elected member of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, the American Society for Reconstructive Transplantation, and the American Society for Peripheral Nerves.
Mini-osmotic pumps provide a sustained, local delivery of exogenous IGF-1 (Table 5; Kanje et al., 1989; Sjoberg and Kanje, 1989; Ishii and Lupien, 1995; Tiangco et al., 2001; Fansa et al., 2002; Apel et al., 2010; Luo et al., 2016). This technique involves subcutaneous implantation of an osmotic pump in the abdomen with extension of a catheter from the pump to the transected nerve site. The positioning of the catheter is maintained by suturing it to local connective tissue. A fixed concentration and quantity of IGF-1 is then loaded into the pump and released at a constant rate (Kanje et al., 1989). Studies using mini-pump delivery of IGF-1 tested a variety of initial concentrations (mean = 143 µg/mL, median = 100 µg/mL, and range: 50 µg/mL – 100 mg/mL), pump rates (mean = 0.425 µL/h, median = 0.25 µL/h, and range: 0.25 – 1.05 µL/h), and release durations (mean = 26 days, median = 7 days, and range: 3 days–12 weeks). The highest dose was reported by Fansa et al. (2002) using a starting concentration of IGF-1 of 100 mg/mL dosed at a continuous pump rate of 0.25 uL/h over 28 days, a value several orders of magnitude higher than any of the other mini pump studies included in Table 5. This concentration discrepancy relative to other mini-pump studies is possibly attributable to the design of this particular study, which set out to investigate the benefits of IGF-1 on a tissue-engineered nerve graft model containing cultured, viable SCs. When the study by Fansa et al. (2002) is excluded, the reported initial optimal concentration for mini pump studies centers on a much more focused range of 0.1–100 µg/mL with a mean of 60 µg/mL and median of 75 µg/mL.
Recovery by sustained IGF-1 delivery (Karim Sarhane research) : We successfully engineered a nanoparticle delivery system that provides sustained release of bioactive IGF-1 for 20 days in vitro; and demonstrated in vivo efficacy in a translational animal model. IGF-1 targeted to denervated nerve and muscle tissue provides significant improvement in functional recovery by enhancing nerve regeneration and muscle reinnervation while limiting denervation-induced muscle atrophy and SC senescence. Targeting the multimodal effects of IGF-1 with a novel delivery.
Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a particularly promising candidate for clinical translation because it has the potential to address the need for improved nerve regeneration while simultaneously acting on denervated muscle to limit denervation-induced atrophy. However, like other growth factors, IGF-1 has a short half-life of 5 min, relatively low molecular weight (7.6 kDa), and high water-solubility: all of which present significant obstacles to therapeutic delivery in a clinically practical fashion (Gold et al., 1995; Lee et al., 2003; Wood et al., 2009). Here, we present a comprehensive review of the literature describing the trophic effects of IGF-1 on neurons, myocytes, and SCs. We then critically evaluate the various therapeutic modalities used to upregulate endogenous IGF-1 or deliver exogenous IGF-1 in translational models of PNI, with a special emphasis on emerging bioengineered drug delivery systems. Lastly, we analyze the optimal dosage ranges identified for each mechanism of IGF-1 with the goal of further elucidating a model for future clinical translation.
Peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs) affect approximately 67 800 people annually in the United States alone (Wujek and Lasek, 1983; Noble et al., 1998; Taylor et al., 2008). Despite optimal management, many patients experience lasting motor and sensory deficits, the majority of whom are unable to return to work within 1 year of the injury (Wujek and Lasek, 1983). The lack of clinically available therapeutic options to enhance nerve regeneration and functional recovery remains a major challenge.