Background: We examined the time course of endothelium-dependent and -indep
endent responses in reversed autogenous arterial grafts during regeneration
and tissue repair processes after arterial grafting in dogs. Materials and
Methods: Autogenous arterial grafts implanted in the canine femoral artery
were removed, cut into rings and suspended in organ chambers for isometric
tension recording on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th and 28th days after implantat
ion. Electron-microscopic examination on the 1st, 3rd,7th, 14th and 28th da
ys after transplantation was also performed. Control arteries were taken fr
om nonsurgically treated femoral arteries. Results: Acetylcholine (ACh) and
A23187 caused endothelium-dependent relaxations in arterial grafts through
out the study. Although endothelium-dependent relaxations to ACh and A23187
on the 3rd day after transplantation were only significantly impaired comp
ared to those of control, they were similar to the control within 1 week af
ter grafting. Smooth muscle relaxations in response to sodium nitroprusside
in arterial grafts throughout the study were comparable with those of cont
rol arteries. No apparent intimal thickening of the arterial grafts was obs
erved. Electron microscopy scanning revealed mild endothelial cell damage i
n implanted autogenous arterial grafts on the 1st or 3rd day after grafting
. Seven to 14 days after grafting, the endothelial cell layer appeared to b
e normal. Conclusions: It was observed that the endothelial function remain
ed intact and there was an absence of intimal thickening in the arterial gr
afts. These observations may explain the improved patency of autogenous art
erial grafts compared to the vein grafts in aortocoronary revascularization
. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG. Basel.