Development of a rat forelimb vascularized composite allograft (VCA) perfusion protocol
Abstract
Vascularized composite allografts (VCAs) refer to en bloc heterogenous tissue that is transplanted to restore form and function after amputation or tissue loss. Rat limb VCA has emerged as a robust translational model to study the pathophysiology of these transplants. However, these models have predominately focused on hindlimb VCAs which does not translate anatomically to upper extremity transplantation, whereas the majority of clinical VCAs are upper extremity and hand transplants. This work details our optimization of rat forelimb VCA procurement and sub-normothermic machine perfusion (SNMP) protocols, with results in comparison to hindlimb perfusion with the same perfusion modality. Results indicate that compared to hindlimbs, rat forelimbs on machine perfusion mandate lower flow rates and higher acceptable maximum pressures. Additionally, low-flow forelimbs have less cellular damage than high-flow forelimbs based on oxygen uptake, edema, potassium levels, and histology through 2 hours of machine perfusion. These results are expected to inform future upper extremity VCA preservation studies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 18, 2023
- Source ID
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0266207
Entities
People
- Alexandre G Lellouch
- Casie A. Pendexter
- Curtis L. Cetrulo, Jr
- Gerald Brandacher
- Heidi Yeh
- James F. Markmann
- Korkut Uygun
- Marion Goutard
- Mohammadreza Mojoudi
- Omar Haque
- Sarah Maggipinto
- Shannon N Tessier
- Simona Baicu
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation