Abstract

There is a need for efficient and “off-the-shelf” grafts in urethral reconstructive surgery. Currently available surgical techniques require harvesting of grafts from autologous sites, with increased risk of surgical complications and added patient discomfort. Therefore, a cost-effective and cell-free graft with adequate regenerative potential has a great chance to be translated into clinical practice. Tubular cell-free collagen grafts were prepared by varying the collagen density and fiber distribution, thereby creating a polarized low fiber density collagen graft (LD-graft). A uniform, high fiber density collagen graft (HD-graft) was engineered as a control. These two grafts were implanted to bridge a 2 cm long iatrogenic urethral defect in a rabbit model. Histology revealed that rabbits implanted with the LD-graft had a better smooth muscle regeneration compared to the HD-graft. The overall functional outcome assessed by contrast voiding cystourethrography showed patency of the urethra in 90% for the LD-graft and in 66.6% for the HD-graft. Functional regeneration of the rabbit implanted with the LD-graft could further be demonstrated by successful mating, resulting in healthy offspring. In conclusion, cell-free low-density polarized collagen grafts show better urethral regeneration than high-density collagen grafts.

Details

Title
Fiber density of collagen grafts impacts rabbit urethral regeneration
Author
Larsson, H M 1 ; Vythilingam, G 2 ; Pinnagoda, K 1 ; Vardar, E 1 ; Engelhardt, E M 3 ; Sothilingam, S 4 ; Thambidorai, R C 4 ; Kamarul, T 5 ; Hubbell, J A 6 ; Frey, P 3 

 Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Pediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland 
 Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Surgery, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
 Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland 
 Department of Surgery, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
 Tissue Engineering Group, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, (NOCERAL) University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
 Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA 
Pages
1-8
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Jul 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2063690400
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.