Abstract
Endothelial cells from rat aorta were cultured before seeding onto porcine aortic valve leaflet surfaces. Primary adherence, growth kinetics, and characteristics of the endothelialization were investigated at different time periods. There were 4 experimental groups: (1) preserved with glutaraldehyde alone, (2) non-preserved, (3) presented with glutaraldehyde and L-glutamic acid, and (4) preserved with glutaraldehyde, epoxy chloropropane, and L-glutamic acid. In group 1 there were no cells growing on the leaflet surfaces after 3 days but in groups 2, 3, and 4 there was distinctive cell growth. Immunostaining and morphologic examinations showed that the growing cells comprised mainly endothelial cells with some fibroblasts. The results showed that L-glutamic acid treatment could neutralize the effect of residual free aldehyde in tanned tissue, thereby allowing endothelial cells to grow on the valve leaflet surfaces.
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