An "off the shelf" vascular allograft supports angiogenic growth in three-dimensional tissue engineering

Dense angiogenic sprouting occurs from arteriovenous loops (AVLs) incorporating autologous vein grafts inserted into empty plastic chambers in vivo. The purpose of this study was to determine if angiogenesis from the AVL was limited by substituting an "off the shelf" cold-stored allograft vein instead of an autologous vein.

Four Sprague Dawley rat groups (two AVL configurations × two chamber types) were established for both 2-week and 6-week harvest. Control AVLs were autologous femoral vein grafts harvested from the left femoral vein that were surgically inserted between the cut femoral artery and vein on the right side. Experimental "allograft" AVLs were rat femoral veins cold-stored (4°C, sterile) for 4 to 7 weeks and then microsurgically interposed between the right femoral artery and vein of an unrelated rat. The two AVL types were inserted in one of two plastic chamber types--smooth or perforated. At harvest, the AVL constructs were checked for patency, weighed, their volume determined, and histology undertaken. Morphometric assessment of percent and absolute volume of major tissue components (including blood vessels) at 6 weeks was completed.

There were no significant differences between autograft and allograft groups in construct weight, volume, or morphology at 2 or 6 weeks. No statistical differences occurred in the percent or absolute vascular volume of AVLs incorporating a cold-stored allograft vs autologous vein grafts at 6 weeks regardless of the chamber type. However, perforated chambers caused significant increases in construct weight (P = .015), volume (P = .006), and percent and absolute connective tissue volume at 6 weeks (P = .001) compared to smooth chamber constructs, regardless of the graft type.

Cold-stored small-caliber allografts interposed in AVLs do not inhibit microcirculatory development and can be used in composite tissue engineering.