Functional assessment of human femoral arteries after cryopreservation

• Published in: Journal of vascular surgery 1998-08, Vol.28 (2), p.273-283
• Main Authors: Stanke, Françoise, Riebel, Danièle, Carmine, Sessa, Cracowski, Jean-Luc, Caron, F., Magne, Jean-Luc, Egelhoffer, Harald, Bessard, Germain, Devillier, Philippe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical death. Palliative care. Organ gift and preservation; Cryopreservation; Endothelium, Vascular - physiopathology; Femoral Artery - physiopathology; Femoral Artery - transplantation; Graft Survival - physiology; Humans; Medical sciences; Nitric Oxide - physiology; Transplantation, Homologous; Vasoconstriction - physiology; Vasoconstrictor Agents - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0741-5214; 1097-6809
• DOI: 10.1016/S0741-5214(98)70163-6

Purpose: An established method of cryostorage that might preserve the vascular and endothelial responses of human femoral arteries (HFAs) to be transplanted as allografts was studied. Methods: HFAs were harvested from multiorgan donors and stored at 4°C in Belzer solution before cryostorage. One hundred eleven HFA rings were isolated and randomly assigned to 1 control group of unfrozen HFAs and 2 groups of HFAs cryopreserved for 7 and 30 days, respectively. Cryopreservation was performed in Elohes solution containing dimethyl sulfoxide (1.8 mmol/L), and the rate of cooling was 1.6°C/min, until –141°C was reached. The contractile and relaxant responses of unfrozen and frozen/thawed arteries were assessed in organ bath by measurement of isometric force generated by the HFAs. Results: After thawing, the maximal contractile responses to all the contracting agonists tested (KCl, U46619 [a thromboxane A 2-mimetic], norepinephrine, serotonin, and endothelin-1) were in the range of 7% to 34% of the responses in unfrozen HFAs. The endothelium-independent relaxant responses to forskolin and verapamil were weakly altered, whereas the endothelium-independent relaxant responses to sodium nitroprusside were markedly reduced. Cryostorage of HFAs also resulted in a loss of the endothelium-dependent relaxant response to acetylcholine. The vascular and endothelial responses were similarly altered in the HFAs cryopreserved for 7 and 30 days. Conclusion: The cryopreservation method used provided a limited preservation of HFAs contractility, a good preservation of the endothelium-independent relaxant responses, but no apparent preservation of the endothelium-dependent relaxation. It is possible that further refinements of the cryopreservation protocol, such as a slower rate of cooling and a more controlled stepwise addition of dimethyl sulfoxide, might allow better post-thaw functional recovery of HFAs. (J Vasc Surg 1998;28:273-283.)