HISTOLOGICAL INTERACTION OF CULTURED ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS AND ENDOVASCULAR EMBOLIC MATERIALS COATED WITH EXTRACELLULAR-MATRIX

This study was undertaken to evaluate the histological reaction of cul tured endothelial cells to endovascular embolic materials in vitro. En dothelial cells were isolated and cultured from a canine carotid arter y. Embolic materials (platinum microcoils, polyvinyl alcohol particles , silicon balloons, or silk threads), either in their normal state or after having been coated with type 1 collagen, fibronectin, or laminin , were placed on endothelial cells and cocultured for 6, 12, and 24 ho urs and 2, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days. The cocultures were investigated his tologically using a scanning electron microscope. Endothelial cells we re not found on any uncoated embolic materials, even at 21 days. On th e materials coated with fibronectin or laminin, endothelial cells bega n to proliferate in 7 days, covering the materials extensively in 14 d ays. On the other hand, endothelial cells began to proliferate on the collagen-coated materials in 3 days, covering them extensively in 7 da ys and reaching confluence with a cobblestone pattern in 21 days. The densities of endothelial cells on collagen-coated materials were much higher than those observed on the materials coated with other extracel lular matrices. Future advantages of the clinical use of collagen-coat ed embolic materials in interventional treatment are discussed.