Assessment of Decellularized Porcine Coronary Arteries as Potential Vascular Graft Scaffolds ​

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major killer of the world and there is increasing need for vascular grafts of small diameter to replace or bypass diseased blood vessels. Although the use of autologous vessels is considered the gold standard for vascular reconstruction, it is often not possible to use them in clinical practice due to the availability of the donor vessels and patient-related factors. In large-diameter vessels, synthetic vascular grafts have been shown to be a successful alternative but have been found to have a poor long-term patency rate for small diameter applications due to thrombosis, intimal hyperplasia, and endothelialization. Thus, decellularized biological scaffolds have gained momentum in vascular tissue engineering as they retain the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) that plays a critical role in providing structural support and biological cues for tissue regeneration. The aim of the present study is to compare three detergent-based decellularization protocols using Tergitol™, Triton™ X-100, and Ecosurf™ with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to determine which is suitable for decellularizing porcine coronary arteries for use as a vascular graft scaffold. After decellularization, the scaffolds were decontaminated by antibiotic treatment, Tris-HCl buffer washing, SuperNuclease enzymatic digestion, and antibiotic incubation before the biological evaluation. The quality of the scaffolds was evaluated by quantifying the DNA remains, characterizing them histologically, assessing them biomechanically, and testing there in vitro biocompatibility.