Glutaraldehyde-fixed biological tissue calcification: effectiveness of mitigation by dimethylsulphoxide

The conditions defining the extent of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) effectiveness in mitigating calcification of glutaraldehyde (GA)-fixed tissue have been evaluated. Exposure of GA-fixed tissue porcine aortic valve cusps to low concentrations of DMSO does not impart calcification inhibitory activity. Mitigation in calcification becomes evident only as the DMSO component nears 100% and is best when neat DMSO is used. In all instances, regardless of the DMSO concentration, exposure to DMSO resulted in an increase in the tissue shrinkage temperature, attributed to further cross-linking in the tissue. Histological examination of samples before implantation indicate some deleterious effects to the tissue, the degree dependent on concentration, time and temperature of DMSO exposure. The results of this study suggest that treatment of GA-fixed tissue with high concentrations of DMSO for a short duration at a lowered temperature could give a bioprosthesis that has good mitigating calcification properties with retention of tissue integrity.