Sw. Sung et T. Won, Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor on early revascularization and epithelial regeneration in rabbit tracheal orthotopic transplantation, EUR J CAR-T, 19(1), 2001, pp. 14-18
Objectives: Donor airway ischemia is a significant problem after tracheal r
eplacement with homograft or lung transplantation. Omentopexy is the usual
countermeasure to prevent or overcome the ischemia of the airway but this i
s frequently not sufficient. This study was designed to investigate whether
basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can augment tracheal revascularizati
on and its epithelial regeneration in rabbit tracheal autograft. Methods: A
bout half the length (44-45%) of the trachea of New Zealand white rabbit we
re autotransplanted in the original position immediately after harvest. In
group II (n = 15, control group), cervical tracheal autotransplantation was
done only. In group II (il = 15, omentopexy group), the cervical tracheal
autograft was wrapped with subcutaneously advanced omentum. In group III (n
= 15, bFGF group), 1 mug of bFGF was applied evenly on the graft after the
completion of anastomosis. Five animals in each group were examined on the
3rd, 7th and 14th postoperative days. Three rings of trachea were taken at
the mid portion of the graft and the supra-carinal untouched normal trache
a in each. The effect of revascularization was assessed by measuring the up
take of human serum albumin labeled with 99m technetium, which was injected
into the left atrium just before sacrifice. The epithelial regeneration wa
s assessed by means of light microscopic examination. Results: The proporti
on of perfusion of the graft to normal trachea was much higher in group III
(P < 0.05) on day 3 (25.4, 27.8 and 54.7% in groups I, II and III, respect
ively), but there was no difference on the 7th and 14th days. The epithelia
l regeneration was better in group III (P < 0.05) than in the other groups
on day 3, and was better in groups II and III than group I on day 7. Conclu
sion: we concluded that bFGF enhances the revascularization and epithelial
regeneration of the tracheal autograft, especially during their early phase
s. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.