A bovine acellular scaffold for vocal fold reconstruction in a rat model

TLDR

The study evaluated the host response and regenerative potential of a bovine acellular vocal fold scaffold in a rat injury model. Twenty rats received unilateral bovine scaffold implants in posterior vocal fold wounds, with contralateral controls, and were sacrificed at multiple time points for histological and quantitative protein analysis. Scaffold implantation induced early inflammatory and fibroblast infiltration, elevated collagen I, III, and GAGs at day 3 that declined over 3 months, and the scaffold degraded without fibrosis or calcification, indicating regenerative potential. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstract

Abstract With a rat model of vocal fold injury, this study examined the in vivo host response to an acellular xenogeneic scaffold derived from the bovine vocal fold lamina propria, and the potential of the scaffold for constructive tissue remodeling. Bilateral wounds were created in the posterior vocal folds of 20 rats, and bovine acellular scaffolds were implanted into the wounds unilaterally, with the contralateral vocal folds as control. The rats were humanely sacrificed after 3 days, 7 days, 1 month, and 3 months, and the coronal sections of their larynges were examined histologically. Expressions of key matrix proteins including collagen I, collagen III, elastin, fibronectin, hyaluronic acid, and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were quantified with digital image analysis. Significant infiltration of host inflammatory cells and host fibroblasts in the scaffold implant was observed in the acute stage of wound repair (3 days and 7 days postsurgery). The mean relative densities of collagen I, collagen III, and GAGs in the implanted vocal folds were significantly higher than those in the control after 3 days, followed by gradual decreases over 3 months. Histological results showed that the scaffolds were apparently degraded by 3 months, with no fibrotic tissue formation or calcification. These preliminary findings suggested that the bovine acellular scaffold could be a potential xenograft for vocal fold regeneration. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010