Histological response to and immunogenicity of different material patches implanted in rabbit abdominal walls

Abstract

The high failure rate of traditional procedures of repairing pelvic organ prolapse by using sutures pushes multiple transvaginal mesh delivery systems into the marketplace; however, these are currently without optimal clinical results. We observed the short-term histological changes and the effects of Th1/Th2 cytokines after the implantation in rabbit abdominal walls of five materials, i.e., porcine urinary bladder matrix (UBM), cross-linked UBM, polypropylene mesh, composite cross-linked UBM, and composite UBM, and explored the feasibility of their application to pelvic reconstructive surgery. Grafts were harvested at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery and were processed for histology in order to evaluate the host inflammatory response and the degree of tissue incorporation. Additionally, graft site cytokine levels were determined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrate that the two composite groups were associated with an erosion response, whereas the other groups induced a milder response than the composite groups. The Th1/Th2 cytokine mRNA expression levels of the cross-linked UBM group at each time point were similar to that of the sham group, whereas the other groups elicited a more variable expression. The cross-linked UBM showed slow degradation, mild inflammatory response, and low immunogenicity. This suggests that cross-linked UBM is a better material of choice for pelvic reconstructive surgery.

Tissue Reactions to Heterogenic and Allogeneic Acellular Dermal Matrix Mesh Placed in the Vesicovaginal Space in a Rabbit Model

“…Chemical cross-linking of ADM mesh materials increases their resistance to collagenases, and thus prolongs their degradation time [27] . Fan et al [27] examined histological changes and the effects of Th1/ Th2 cytokines after implantation of porcine urinary bladder matrix (UBM), cross-linked UBM, polypropylene mesh, composite cross-linked UBM, and composite UBM into the abdominal walls of rabbits. Grafts were harvested at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery.…”

Feasibility of the New Zealand white Rabbit as an Animal Model for the Study of Biological Grafts in the Pelvic Floor Dysfunctions

“…In the case of the dog [24] and the primate there are additional ethical and legal conflicts concerns. There are several authors that have used used the rabbit model to study different biomaterials in gynecology [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]; therefore, we strongly believe that the rabbit is a good model for the study of biomaterials for abdominal and vaginal application. The main limitation of the project is the translation of the results of the animal model to the human situation.…”