Effects of two methods of endothelial cell seeding on cell retention during blood flow

The potential benefits of endothelial cell seeding depend not only on effective cell attachment, but also on the ability of the cells to resist the stresses of blood flow. We have investigated the effect of different blood flow rates on immediately seeded grafts (SHORT) and also on preformed confluent monolayers formed by overnight incubation (LONG). Cells were labelled with indium and then exposed to either 100 or 200 ml/min of pulsatile blood flow. Cell retention was measured up to 120 min. At both flow rates the LONG seeding procedure gave significantly better cell retention than the SHORT method (P less than 0.01 at all times). There was no difference in cell retention between the two flow rates in the LONG group, but more cells detached at the higher flow rate in the SHORT group (P less than 0.01). We conclude that the new seeding method, using preformed confluent monolayers, significantly improves cell retention during blood flow.