Fabricating a Low-cost and Low-immune Xenogeneic Aortic Valve Bio Prosthesis

Abstract BackgroundCardiac valve replacement is the only available treatment for end-stage valvular dysfunction patients. In this treatment, among the available choices of valves, the bio-prosthetic valves are better than the mechanical ones in terms of hemodynamic and infection-resistant properties. However, they tend to fail with time, posing a catastrophic event. This study focuses on fabricating the heart valve to eliminate the flaws of bio-prosthetic valves. MethodsPerfusion-based decellularization method was adapted for decellularisation to the sheep heart. Further, decellularised aortic valves were cross-linked with 0.2% Glutaraldehyde (Group C). ResultsAll valves were tested for biochemical and molecular assays including biomechanical tensile testing. Histology, SEM showed a complete lack of cells with intact matrix for decellularised groups. The fibrin glue coated valves leaflet scaffolds showed remodeling of the cells as per the matrix (plasticity). Characterization studies emphasized the cellular behaviour onto matrigel assay, live-dead assay, and the expression of vWF, glycocalyx lectin. ConclusionsThis study focuses on fabricating a re-endothelialized xenogeneic aortic valve leaflet using cross-linking reaction to mask antigenicity of the host proteins (low-immune humanized) and avoid post-implantation cross-reaction.