Morphofunctional characterization of decellularized great saphenous veins as a framework for tissue engineering

Abstract

It is well established that, as a form of treatment for the peripheral arterial occlusive disease in a situation of critical ischemia, patients can undergo endovascular techniques and/or bypass surgery. In conventional surgeries, an ideal vascular substitute would be a blood vessel with the same characteristics as the artery to be replaced. However, this therapy cannot always be used for all patients and the treatment alternative ends up being the use of synthetic materials whose patency it's smaller. Tissue engineering emerges as a promising proposal as an alternative for providing personalized tissues and organs, aiming to produce biocompatible grafts to replace damaged or non-functional organs or tissues. Objective: To perform the decellularization of human saphenous veins to produce a 3D scaffold for future use in tissue engineering in blood vessels, comparing sufficient and insufficient saphenous veins regarding the decellularization process. Methods: morphofunctional characterization of decellularized great saphenous veins will be performed, through the test of two decellularizing agents (SDS and DS) in two concentrations (2% and 3%) maintained for 1 and 2 hours under continuous agitation. Sufficient human great saphenous veins will be used from 7 individuals undergoing surgical procedures to make bypass/bypass with sufficient great saphenous veins and that have an unused residual segment (in natura), in addition to insufficient great saphenous veins from 8 individuals undergoing removal surgical procedure for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. The frameworks will be comparatively analyzed for the best decellularization process by histological analysis of the extracellular matrix. Results: It is hoped that we can obtain sufficient information to choose the best method of decellularization of sufficient and insufficient great saphenous veins for use in blood vessel tissue engineering. (AU)