title: Is the dog a useful model for accelerated calcification study of cardiovascular bioprostheses?
abstract: Chitosan posttreatment has been shown to be effective in prevention of calcification of the glutaraldehyde treated bovine pericardium when implanted subdermally in rats for 12 weeks. The efficacy of chitosan posttreatment in complete calcium mitigation of the glutaraldehyde treated porcine aortic valves implanted in the right side of the heart in dogs was well-documented in our previous study. In this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the merit of the chitosan posttreatment in prevention of calcification of the glutaraldehyde (GA) treated porcine aortic valved conduits in the systemic circulation in dogs for a period of 5 months. Eleven mongrel dogs underwent left thoracotomy. Porcine aortic valved conduits treated with 0.625% GA (n = 5) and GA-chitosan (n = 6) were implanted in the descending thoracic aortas of the dogs for 5 months. Gross histological observations showed no calcification in either the 0.625% GA treated or in the GA-chitosan treated valved conduits at 5 months. This was confirmed by results of quantitative analyses for calcium in each explant. There was no significant difference in calcium content between the GA only (Ca, 0.43 +/- 0.26 mg/g) and GA-chitosan treated (Ca, 0.51 +/- 0.19 mg/g; p = 0.5959) valved conduits. This study suggests that the dog is not a suitable model for evaluating the efficacy of a calcium mitigating agent in bioprostheses implanted in systemic circulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Akita University School of Medicine, Japan. jchanda@med.akita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chanda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuribayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sekine
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000502:physiology; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001705:Bioprosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002417:Cattle; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002686:Chitin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D048271:Chitosan; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D005976:Glutaral / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002614:Chelating Agents; D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan; D005976:Glutaral