Comparison of deposits of versican, biglycan and decorin in saphenous veinand internal thoracic, radial and coronary arteries: correlation to patency

Background Matrix proteoglycans versican, biglycan and decorin are importan t determinants of vessel-wall structure and pathology. Thickened myxoid int imas typical of restenosis and early atherosclerosis are enriched in versic an and biglycan, proteoglycans that promote proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells and bind lipoproteins. In contrast, compact fibrous int imas are characterized by decorin. Objective To compare the distribution patterns of these matrix proteoglycan s, and changes induced by organ culture in coronary artery, saphenous vein, internal thoracic artery (ITA), and radial artery, and correlate differenc es to patency. Methods Vessels were collected at the time of bypass surgery and heart tran splantation and either fixed for immunohistochemistry or prepared for organ culture. Vessels in culture were labelled with [H-3]-glucosamine and proce ssed for autoradiography and immunohistochemistry. Distribution patterns fo r proteoglycans and radio-labelling were determined morphometrically. Results Distribution profiles in coronary artery and saphenous vein were si milar, with relatively high levels of subendothelial versican and biglycan and low levels of decorin. In culture subendothelial incorporation of [H-3] -glucosamine and immunostaining for versican and biglycan, but not decorin, were significantly increased. In contrast, the thin intima of the ITA was relatively enriched in decorin compared with the medial layers and in cultu re intimal staining for decorin increased markedly compared with a modest i ncrease for biglycan and no change for versican. There was an even distribu tion in radial artery of all three proteoglycans across the intima without subendothelial accumulations. In culture there was an increase in staining intensity for proteoglycans of the radial artery. Neither the ITA nor radia l artery exhibited an increase in subendothelial incorporation of [H-3]-glu cosamine in culture. Conclusions The distributions of proteoglycans, and responses to culture co rrelate to the known differences in patency between grafted saphenous vein and ITA and predict that the radial artery will outperform the saphenous ve in but might not be as good as the ITA for long-term patency. Coron Artery Dis 12:7-16 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.