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Updated: Mar 18, 2026
The Arteriovenous AV Loop in a Small Animal Model to Study Angiogenesis and Vascularized Tissue Engineering
Published on: November 2, 2016
Three-dimensional mapping of the arteriovenous loop model using two-dimensional histological methods
Hannes Seuss1, Andreas Arkudas2, Matthias Hammon3
1Department of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen-Nuernberg, (FAU, Germany, Friedrich Alexander University). hannes.seuss@uk-erlangen.de.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to create an analytical tool for the three-dimensional distribution of immunohistochemically stained cells in the arteriovenous (AV) loop model of the femoral vessels of rats that fuses two-dimensional histological slides into stacks.
Methods:
A total of 22 AV loops were implanted into male syngeneic Lewis rats by creating an arteriovenous fistula between the femoral artery and vein by interposing a femoral vein graft of the contralateral extremity. This fistula was embedded into an isolation chamber filled with a fibrin matrix. Specimens were explanted after 7 to 14 days, and the AV loop was processed using standard histological protocols. Immunohistochemical staining for HIF-1α and a counter staining with hematoxylin was performed. Various layouts with different cutting planes, regions of interest, and post-processing algorithms were evaluated. Results and observations: The proximal-to-distal cutting perpendicular to the vascular axis proved to be the best layout for mapping the three-dimensional constructs containing the AV loop. A semi-automatic algorithm for the differentiation of immunohistochemical positive and negative cells was developed.
Conclusion:
The newly established methods from this study constitute an excellent tool for the general evaluation of the AV loop model - particularly with regard to the three-dimensional distribution of immunohistochemical positive and negative cells.
