Morphological and biomechanical study of abdominal aorta of rats submitted to experimental chronic alcoholism.

PURPOSE: To assess the influence of experimental chronic alcoholism in the morphology and biomechanics of the aorta, in a rat model. METHODS: Forty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups of 22 animals each: in the alcoholism group, the rats received water mixed to increasing concentrations of ethyl alcohol; and control group: the rats received pure water for 180 days. The animals were then killed by an overdose of pentobarbital and the abdominal aortas were excised for histological (hematoxylin-eosin, Masson, Calleja, and Picrosirius red stain), histomorphometrical, and biomechanical analysis. RESULTS: Histology and histomorphometry did not show differences in aorta morphology of both groups. Biomechanical analysis showed a significantly greater yield point elongation in the alcoholic rat group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Chronic alcoholism did not cause morphological alterations in the aortic wall but increased elongation, without modifying any other mechanical properties.

Inside-out vein graft and inside-out artery graft in rat sciatic nerve repair.

Although veins and arteries present similar wall structures, there are differences which may be relevant in peripheral nerve reconstruction. Inside-out vein grafts (IOVG) have been satisfactorily used to repair both motor and sensitive nerves. However, the inside-out artery graft (IOAG) is a new technique and not fully investigated. Our study presents comparative morphological data on nerve regeneration achieved with IOVG and IOAG in the repair of Wistar rat sciatic nerves. Jugular veins and aorta arteries were harvested from donor animals and used "inside-out" to bridge a 10-mm gap. Animals were sacrificed at 10 weeks to evaluate nerve regeneration. Both techniques presented great variability in nervous tissue, though some animals showed satisfactory results. Different intensities of scarring processes might have interfered with nerve regeneration. Although IOVG and IOAG techniques showed similar morphometric results, in general, IOVG presented a closer-to-normal nerve organization than IOAG.