The myofibrosis mechanism of differentiation growth factor-8 on rat abdominal aorta grafts.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to investigate the role of differentiation growth factor-8 (GDF-8) in inhibiting myofibrosis of abdominal aorta grafts.


METHODS
Male Spague-Dawley (SD) rats that received abdominal aorta grafts from male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: prolonged cold ischemia (PCI) and control groups. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed to examine aortic graft morphology and to measure neointimal thickness. RT-PCR demonstrated the expression of GDF-8. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) was performed to detect the expression of Smad4, a pivotal molecule of the transforming, growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)/Smad signal pathway.


RESULTS
The intimal thickness increased by 14 days following transplantation in the PCI group (P<.05), reaching 381.952+/-44.334 microm at 28 days, which was higher than that of the control group (56.898+/-17.543 microm; P<.05). The GDF-8 expression in the PCI group was only 3.6%-33.8% of that among the control group. There was a much higher expression of Smad4 on the endothelium of the PCI than the control group at the same time.


CONCLUSIONS
Prolonged cold ischemia accelerated grafts myofibrosis by down-regulating the expression of GDF-8, which plays a key role in the myofibrosis process of rat abdominal aortic grafts.
Gao
C
C
Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. chengjingao2003@yahoo.com.cn
Xiong
W
W
Li
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D009220:Myositis / Q000473:pathology*; D055435:Myostatin; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051785:Smad Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation
C525913:Mstn protein, rat; D055435:Myostatin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051785:Smad Proteins; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta