Calcification resistance for photooxidatively crosslinked acellular bovine jugular vein conduits in right-side heart implantation

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A Vol. 100A; no. 10; pp. 2644 - 2653
• Main Authors: Lü, Wei-Dong, Wang, An-Ping, Wu, Zhong-Shi, Zhang, Ming, Hu, Tie-Hui, Lei, Guang-Yan, Hu, Ye-Rong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.2012; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; bovine jugular vein conduit; calcification; Calcinosis - diagnostic imaging; Calcinosis - pathology; Calcinosis - therapy; Calcium - metabolism; Cardiomyopathies - diagnostic imaging; Cardiomyopathies - pathology; Cardiomyopathies - therapy; Cattle; Cross-Linking Reagents - pharmacology; crosslinking; decellularization; Dogs; Elastin - metabolism; ethanol pretreatment; Heart Valve Prosthesis; Heart Valves - drug effects; Heart Valves - pathology; Heart Valves - ultrastructure; Heart Ventricles - diagnostic imaging; Heart Ventricles - drug effects; Heart Ventricles - pathology; Immunohistochemistry; Jugular Veins - drug effects; Jugular Veins - transplantation; Light; Medical sciences; Oxidation-Reduction - drug effects; Oxidation-Reduction - radiation effects; Phospholipids - metabolism; Prosthesis Implantation; Staining and Labeling; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments; Ultrasonography; Jugular vein; decellularization; Bovine; Ethanol; ethanol pretreatment; Implantation; Crosslinking; bovine jugular vein conduit; Resistance; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Crosslinked polymer; Calcification; Right heart; Biomaterial; Artiodactyla; Pretreatment; Ungulata; Biomedical engineering
• ISSN: 1549-3296; 1552-4965
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.34203

This study aimed to investigate the effect of decellularization plus photooxidative crosslinking and ethanol pretreatment on bioprosthetic tissue calcification. Photooxidatively crosslinked acellular (PCA) bovine jugular vein conduits (BJVCs) and their photooxidized controls (n = 5 each) were sterilized in a graded concentration of ethanol solutions for 4 h, and used to reconstruct dog right ventricular outflow tracts. At 1‐year implantation, echocardiography showed similar hemodynamic performance, but obvious calcification for the photooxidized BJVC walls. Further histological examination showed intense calcium deposition colocalized with slightly degraded elastic fibers in the photooxidized BJVC walls, with sparsely distributed punctate calcification in the valves and other areas of walls. But PCA BJVCs had apparent degradation of elastic fibers in the walls, with only sparsely distributed punctate calcification in the walls and valves. Content assay demonstrated comparable calcium content for the two groups at preimplantation, whereas less calcium for the PCA group in the walls and similar calcium in the valvular leaflets compared with the photooxidized group at 1‐year retrieval. Elastin content assay presented the conduit walls of PCA group had less elastin content at preimplantation, but similar content at 1‐year retrieval compared with the photooxidized group. Phospholipid analysis showed phospholipid extraction by ethanol for the PCA group was more efficacious than the photooxidized group. These results indicate that PCA BJVCs resist calcification in right‐side heart implantation owing to decellularization, further photooxidative crosslinking, and subsequent phospholipid extraction by ethanol at preimplantation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A 100A:2644–2653, 2012.