Mechanical properties and immunogenicity of vascular xenografts

Polyepoxy compounds (PC) have been introduced as new cross-linking agents to overcome some of the disadvantages of glutaraldehyde (GA). In this study, we investigated the relationship of the reaction time to the immunogenicity and mechanical properties of canine and bovine common carotid arteries cross-linked with one of PC, namely, glycerol polyglycidyl ether (GPE). To evaluate mechanical properties, we made use of the finite deformation theory. Arteries cross-linked with GPE for 48 hours proved to be about 3 times as flexible as those cross-linked with GA for 48 hours. In the immunogenicity experiments, GPE was observed to reduce the immunogenicity of the arteries according to the reaction time, and the arteries, which were cross-linked with GPE for 48 hours, showed little immunogenicity. It was concluded that GPE is a more suitable cross-linking agent than GA, and its optimum reaction time seems to be 48 hours.