ABSTRACT
Vessel allograft preservation is essential for vascular reconstruction surgery. The preservation solution is crucial inextending the preservation period while maintaining vascular endothelial function. Currently, a 0.9% normal salinesolution (NSS) is widely used as a storage solution although its protective effect on endothelial preservation islimited. In this study, we determine the beneficial effect of recombinant human secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor(rhSLPI), supplemented to 0.9% NSS, for isolated aortic preservation. The thoracic and abdominal aorta were isolatedfrom Wistar rats (n = 6), and the aortic rings were subsequently cut and preserved in 0.9% NSS in the presenceand absence of 1 µg/ml rhSLPI for 0, 6, 24, and 48 hours. The preservative solution was collected to determine thereleased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, including tumor necrosis factorα (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Furthermore, the appearance and severity of vessel degeneration were subjected toblind histopathological assessment by pathologists. The results indicated that 0.9% NSS, supplemented with rhSLPI,significantly reduced the released LDH activity, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels and could attenuate endothelial detachment,endothelial degeneration, and endothelial necrosis. This study demonstrated for the first time that adding rhSLPI to asaline preservative solution could prevent vascular injury and possibly extend the graft storage duration before clinicalintervention.