HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Gaetano Thiene Permission Requests Google Scholar Articles by Pettenazzo, E. Articles by Thiene, G. PubMed Articles by Pettenazzo, E. Articles by Thiene, G. Related Collections Cardiac - other Education Pericardium Valve disease

Octanediol treatment of glutaraldehyde fixed bovine pericardium: evidence of anticalcification efficacy in the subcutaneous rat model

Department of Medical Diagnostic Sciences, University of Padua Medical School, Via A. Gabelli, 61, 35121 Padua, Italy

Received 2 November 2007; received in revised form 5 May 2008; accepted 6 May 2008.

^_* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 049 8272283; fax: +39 049 8272284. (Email: gaetano.thiene{at}unipd.it).

Objective: Anticalcification strategies of glutaraldehyde-fixed xenograft tissue aim to extract lipids or to neutralize toxic aldehyde residuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of octanediol compared to standard treatments of glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium in the subdermal rat model. Octanediol treatment is an ethanolic solution (40%) containing a long chain aliphatic alcohol (5% 1,2-octanediol) that removes lipids without diminishing the stability of collagen. Methods: Octanediol and standard glutaraldehyde fixed bovine pericardium were both implanted in 24 Sprague-Dawley rats, explanted after 30–75 days (12 animals each) and submitted to X-ray (score 0–4), histology, electron microscopy and elemental analysis by spectroscopy (Ca and P content). Unimplanted octanediol and standard glutaraldehyde fixed pericardium served as control. Results: At 30 days octanediol-treated pericardium showed calcium content of 0.20 ± 0.1 vs 20.07 ± 36.79 mg/g dry weight for standard pericardium. The difference was also evident at 75 days: calcium content of 2.36 ± 7.38 mg/g dry weight for octanediol vs 165.61 ± 23.35 mg/g dry weight for standard (p < 0.0001). Differences were also detected at X-ray (mean score 0.7 ± 0.6 octanediol vs 3.8 ± 0.4 standard at 75 days). Equally, mean P content was 11.69 ± 21.33 mg/g dry weight for standard vs 0.60 ± 1.45 mg/g dry weight for octanediol samples at 30 days, and 90.90 ± 12.61 mg/g dry weight for standard vs 1.42 ± 4.34 mg/g dry weight for octanediol at 75 days (p < 0.0001). At electron microscopy collagen appeared well preserved regardless of the type of treatment; in octanediol treated pericardium cell membranes almost disappeared and only few profiles of endoplasmic reticulum and rare mitochondria were visible. Conclusions: Treatment with octanediol strongly prevents calcification of glutaraldehyde fixed bovine pericardium in rat subdermal model, even in the long-term. Evidence of octanediol efficacy may entail important implications for new generation bioprosthetic valves.

Key Words: Bovine pericardium • Rat subcutaneous model • Anticalcification treatment