title: Fabrication and Short-Term in Vivo Performance of a Natural Elastic Lamina-Polymeric Hybrid Vascular Graft.
abstract: Although significant advances have been made in the development of artificial vascular grafts, small-diameter grafts still suffer from excessive platelet activation, thrombus formation, smooth muscle cell intimal hyperplasia, and high occurrences of restenosis. Recent discoveries demonstrating the excellent blood-contacting properties of the natural elastic lamina have raised the possibility that an acellular elastic lamina could effectively serve as a patent blood-contacting surface in engineered vascular grafts. However, the elastic lamina alone lacks the requisite mechanical properties to function as a viable vascular graft. Here, we have screened a wide range of biodegradable and biostable medical-grade polymers for their ability to adhere to the outer surface of the elastic lamina and allow cellular repopulation following engraftment in the rat abdominal aorta. We demonstrate a novel method for the fabrication of elastic lamina-polymeric hybrid small-diameter vascular grafts and identify poly(ether urethane) (PEU 1074A) as ideal for this purpose. In vivo results demonstrate graft patency over 21 days, with low thrombus formation, mild inflammation, and the general absence of smooth muscle cell hyperplasia on the graft's luminal surface. The results provide a new direction for developing small-diameter vascular grafts that are mass-producible, shelf-stable, and universally compatible due to a lack of immune response and inhibit the in-graft restenosis response that is common to nonautologous materials.
authors.forename: Connor W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Danielle C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ahrens
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Joda
authors.forename: Tyler E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Patrick K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.forename: Roger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Guillory
authors.affiliation: §Biomedical Engineering Department, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States.
authors.forename: Shu Q
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Megan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000166:cytology* / Q000601:surgery*; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002474:Cell-Free System / Q000737:chemistry; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011140:Polyurethanes
keywords: blood-contacting; elastic lamina; neointimal hyperplasia; polymeric scaffold; restenosis; small-diameter vascular graft