Sterilization of skin allografts by ionizing radiation

The skin has a fundamental role in the viability of human body. In the case of extensive wounds, skin allografts provide an alternative to cover temporarily the damaged areas. After donor screening and preservation in glycerol 85%, the skin can be stored in a Skin Bank. Glycerol at this concentration has a bacteriostatic effect after certain time of preservation. On the other hand, skin sterilization by ionizing radiation may reduce the quarentine period for transplantation in patients. The objective of this work was to evaluate allograft sterilization using two sources of ionizing radiation. Through the analysis of stress-strain, it was intended to verify possible effects of the radiation on the structure of preserved grafts. Three groups of skin samples were selected. The first group was maintained in the initial conditions, not irradiated. The second was exposed to cobalt-60, while the third one was irradiated using an Dynamitron Accelerator JOB188 electron beam. The irradiation dose was 25 kGy for both tests. Both irradiation sources, and the Instron Universal Machine used for biomechanical experiments, are installed at the Centro de Tecnologia das Radiações/Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (São Paulo, Brazil). According to the preliminary results, biomechanical characteristics of the samples irradiated seem to be maintained with regard to the non irradiated group.