Tissue-engineered heart valve on acellular aortic valve scaffold: in-vivo study.
The feasibility of constructing a tissue-engineered heart valve on an acellular porcine aortic valve leaflet was evaluated. A detergent and enzymatic extraction process was developed to remove the cellular components from porcine aortic valves. The acellular valve leaflets were seeded for 7 days in vitro with cells from canine arterial wall and endothelial cells. The constructs were implanted into the lumens of 6 canine abdominal aortas to assess the reconstruction of the valve leaflets. It was found that all cellular components had been removed from the porcine aortic valves. The valve leaflets were completely reconstructed at the end of the 10th week in vivo. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the valve leaflets were partially covered with endothelial cells. It was concluded that porcine aortic valves can be decellularized by the detergent and enzymatic extraction process and it is feasible to construct a tissue-engineered heart valve in vivo on an acellular valve scaffold.
Zhao
Dong-e
DE
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, People's Republic of China. zhaudonge@hotmail.com
Li
Ruo-bing
RB
Liu
Wei-yong
WY
Wang
Gang
G
Yu
Shi-qiang
SQ
Zhang
Cheng-wei
CW
Chen
Wen-sheng
WS
Zhou
Geng-xu
GX
D000818:Animals; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000166:cytology; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D004285:Dogs; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013552:Swine; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
D008567:Membranes, Artificial