Collagen vitrigel scaffold for regenerative medicine of the trachea: Experimental study and quantitative evaluation

Abstract

Conclusion: Our technique for tracheal regeneration using a collagen vitrigel scaffold affords a feasible approach for accelerating epithelial regeneration on the intraluminal surface of the host tracheal defect. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of a collagen vitrigel scaffold for the regeneration of the tracheal epithelium. Methods: The collagen vitrigel scaffold was developed by conjugating a collagen vitrigel membrane to a collagen sponge to promote both epithelial cell growth and mesenchymal cell infiltration. The collagen vitrigel scaffold was implanted into tracheal defects in rats as the vitrigel model, and a conventional collagen sponge was implanted as a control model. The structure of the regenerated tissue was observed and thickness of the epithelium was quantitatively evaluated by histological examination. Results: Histological findings showed the surface of the collagen vitrigel scaffold to be flat in comparison with that of the conventional collagen sponge. At 7, 14, and 28 days post-implantation, the average thickness of the regenerated epithelial layer in the vitrigel model group was greater than that in the control group.

Keywords::

• Tracheal reconstruction
• tracheal epithelium
• tissue engineering

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Etsuko Sato for her technical contribution to this work. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, Agri-Health Translational Research Project (no. 6230) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, and Fukushima Medical University.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.