Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in developed countries. Modern surgical methods show poor efficiency in the substitution of small-diameter arteries (<6 mm). Due to the difference in mechanical properties between the native artery and the substitute, the behavior of the vessel wall is a major cause of inefficient substitutions. The use of decellularized scaffolds has shown optimal prospects in different applications for regenerative medicine. The purpose of this work was to obtain polylysine-enriched vascular substitutes, derived from decellularized porcine femoral and carotid arteries. Polylysine acts as a matrix cross-linker, increasing the mechanical resistance of the scaffold with respect to decellularized vessels, without altering the native biocompatibility and hemocompatibility properties. The biological characterization showed an excellent biocompatibility, while mechanical tests displayed that the Young’s modulus of the polylysine-enriched matrix was comparable to native vessel. Burst pressure test demonstrated strengthening of the polylysine-enriched matrix, which can resist to higher pressures with respect to native vessel. Mechanical analyses also show that polylysine-enriched vessels presented minimal degradation compared to native. Concerning hemocompatibility, the performed analyses show that polylysine-enriched matrices increase coagulation time, with respect to commercial Dacron vascular substitutes. Based on these findings, polylysine-enriched decellularized vessels resulted in a promising approach for vascular substitution.
Highlights
Main cause of death worldwide is represented by cardiovascular diseases (Zoghbi et al, 2014), with a predicted annual incidence of cardiovascular disease-related mortalities expected to increase to 23.3 million worldwide by 2030 (Mathers and Loncar, 2006)
Autologous saphenous veins show some drawbacks, such as their limited availability, due to the fact that the vessel could show poor quality, and its harvest could lead to damage or infection in the surgery site (Klinkert et al, 2004; Conte, 2013)
Decellularized vessels have been stored at −20◦C before use
Summary
Main cause of death worldwide is represented by cardiovascular diseases (Zoghbi et al, 2014), with a predicted annual incidence of cardiovascular disease-related mortalities expected to increase to 23.3 million worldwide by 2030 (Mathers and Loncar, 2006) These diseases are characterized by partial or complete occlusion of blood vessels lumen, leading to reduced blood flow and Polylysine Enriched Matrices for Vascular Grafts subsequent tissue damage and necrosis (Pashneh-Tala et al, 2015). The gold standard for vascular grafting are autologous arteries or veins, because of their natural biocompatibility, their nonthrombogenicity and their adequate mechanical characteristics (Farkouh et al, 2012) While arteries, such as the internal thoracic artery or radial artery, ensure a superior patency (Athanasiou et al, 2011; Masden et al, 2012), the saphenous vein is the most used autograft vessel (Harskamp et al, 2013). Differences with the native vessel in compliance and elasticity often entail substitute’s occlusion, caused by atherosclerosis and cellular infiltration (Harskamp et al, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
