Hypoxia Longitudinally Correlates with Initial Extrinsic and Subsequent Intrinsic Vascularization of Collagen Elastin Matrix-Embedded Arteriovenous Loops in Experimental Rats

Purpose

Tissue engineering techniques that allow the growth of vascularized tissue are currently being developed and characterized with the help of animal models such as the rat arteriovenous loop (AVL), a microvascular vessel loop that is generated microsurgically, and implanted within an isolation chamber. Inside the chamber, the loop can be embedded in different matrices that become considerably vascularized with time. While vascularization of rat AVLs has been studied in the context of various matrix materials, hypoxia and subsequent vascularization have so far not been longitudinally assessed in rat AVL constructs embedded in a collagen elastin matrix. This assessment, however, is important to determine the peak of vascularization and thus the ideal time frame for transplantation.