Inducing angiogenesis at tissue engineered bone scaffold by an arteriovenous loop in rabbits / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the effects of 2 vascular carriers, arteriovenous loop and arteri-ovenous bundle, on inducing angiogenesis in coral scaffold of vascularized tissue-engineered bone in animal models.Methods Thirty-six adult male New Zealand rabbits were randomized into 2 even groups.In group A, an arteriovenous loop (AVL) was formed by microsurgical anastomosis at the proximal ends between the femoral poptiteal artery and vein, and placed in the circular side groove of the coral block (6 mm × 8 mm × 10 mm) .In group B, flow-through vessels bundles of both femoral artery and vein were placed in the side grooves of the coral block.All the implants in 2 groups were wrapped by a micro-porous expand-ed-polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane, and fixed subcutaneously by suturing.Evaluation methods included gross morphological observations, histological examinations, India ink perfusion and vascular casting after 2, 4, 6 weeks.The density of blood vessels was analyzed by the statistical software SPSS 10.0.Results All the corals were encased by newly formed fibrovascular tissues in 2 groups.Ink-stained vessels distributed the surfaces and side grooves, and invaded the interspaces of corals.The degree of vascularization increased over the course of experiment.Blood vessel density demonstrated a significant continuous increase between 2 and 6 weeks after implantation in group A.The mean value of blood vessel density in group A (2 weeks 276.60±4.67, 4 weeks 517.20±10.66, 6 weeks 707.00 ±11.87) was significantly higher than in group B (2 weeks 153.60 ±7.16, 4 weeks 269.40±6.80, 6 weeks 279.20±6.53) (P <0.01).Vascular casting showed that in group A, significant blood vessels sprouted from all areas of the loop, espe-cially at the entrance of the arteriovenous pediele where the small tubes were densely interconnected.In group B, however, no blood vessels sprouted from the arteriovenous bundles and only some small vessels grew from the entrance and exit.Conclusions A vascularized coral model can be constructed by inserting an ar-teriovenous loop or an arteriovenous bundle, useful in vascular bone tissue engineering.The former, however, have stronger abilities to induce angiogenesis than the latter.