POTENTIAL AND IMPROVEMENT OF POLY (VINYL ALCOHOL) AS SMALL DIAMETER VASCULAR GRAFT

Abstract

PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE (PAD) IS AN AFFLICTION SEVERELY REDUCING QUALITY OF LIFE. SMALL PERIPHERAL ARTERY REPLACEMENT (DIAMETER 6MM) USING SYNTHETIC VASCULAR GRAFTS FAIL BECAUSE OF LOW PATENCY. WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT TOPOGRAPHY AND ATTACHMENT CUES WILL AID ENDOTHELIALIZATION AND PATENCY OF SYNTHETIC GRAFTS BY INFLUENCING ENDOTHELIAL CELL BEHAVIOR. MOREOVER, IT WAS POSTULATED THAT CONTROLLED SPATIOTEMPORAL RELEASE OF ANGIOGENIC FACTOR FROM VASCULAR GRAFT WOULD AID REVASCULARIZATION IN PAD. IN THIS STUDY, WE MODIFIED BIOCOMPATIBLE POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) (PVA) HYDROGEL WITH TOPOGRAPHY, ATTACHMENT FACTOR AND ANGIOGENIC FACTOR. WE SHOWED THAT PATTERNED PVA WITH ATTACHMENT FACTOR IMPROVED ENDOTHELIAL CELL VIABILITY AND FUNCTION. COMPOSITE SCAFFOLD OF POLYELECTROLYTE FIBER AND PVA ALSO SHOWED NEAR-LINEAR RELEASE OF ANGIOGENIC FACTORS. FINALLY, WE DEMONSTRATED SHORT-TERM PATENCY OF PVA SMALL DIAMETER VASCULAR GRAFT IN PAD ANIMAL MODEL. OUR STUDY DEMONSTRATED THE EXCELLENT POTENTIAL OF PVA AS AN