Morphological characteristics and biological mechanics analysis of rabbit decellularized allograft trachea matrix-derived material

Abstract

Objective To study the different concentrations of Triton X-100 combined with nuclease to take off the cells from rabbit allograft trachea matrix and analyze the morphological and biomechanical properties.Methods Thirty healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups (n =6each).The tracheas in group A were treated with nothing as control group,and those in groups B,C,D and E were treated with different concentrations of Triton X-100 (1％,2％,3％,and 4％) respectively.The histologic findings were observed with HE stain,and the tracheal inner and outer surface was observed by scanning electron microscope.Length,thickness,transverse diameter and longitudinal diameter of transversal surface,maximum drawing force and elastic modulus were observed.The native trachea and decellularized trachea obtained by 2％ concentration of Triton X-100 were embedded in the back of SD rats,and at 1st,4th and 8th week the tracheas were observed by HE staining.Results There were many epithelial cells and cartilage cells in the tracheas of group A.Cartilage cells in the tracheas of groups C,D and E were less than in groups A and B under the histological observation.There were many epithelium cilia in the tracheas of group A,and in the groups B and C,epithelium cilia disappeared,and basement membrane was intact.Basement membrane was broken in the tracheas of groups D and E.Maximum drawing force and elastic modulus were declined throughout the increase of concentration,but there was significant difference only between group E and group A (P ＜ 0.05).Implanted decellularized trachea showed good biocompatibility.Conclusion Decellularized rabbit trachea matrix obtained by 2％ Triton X-100 has obvious advantage in morphology and mechanical aspects. Key words: Decellularized matrix; Trachea; Morphology ; Biomechanics; Biocompatibility