Assessment of decellularization strategy and biocompatibility testing of full-thickness abdominal wall to produce a tissue-engineered graft.

Background: Restoration of the abdominal wall defects due to herniation or other complications represents a challenging task of the reconstructive surgery. Synthetic grafts or crosslinked animal-derived grafts, are utilized, followed by significant adverse reactions.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate primarily the production of a decellularized abdominal wall scaffold and secondly its biocompatibility upon transplantation in an animal model.

Methods: Full-thickness abdominal wall samples were harvested from Wistar Rats and then decellularized utilizing a three-cycle process. To evaluate the decellularization efficacy, histological, biochemical and biomechanical analyses were performed. The biocompatibility assessment involved the implantation of the produced scaffolds to Sprague Dawley rats. The grafts remained for a total period of 4 weeks, followed by immunohistochemistry for the detection of CD11b+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells.

Results: Histological, biochemical and biomechanical results, indicated the production of compatible acellular full-thickness abdominal wall samples. After 4 weeks of implantation, a minor presence of immunity cells was observed.

Conclusion: The data of this study indicated the successful production of a full-thickness abdominal wall scaffold. Biologically derived full-thickness abdominal wall scaffolds may have greater potential in restoration of the abdominal wall defects, bringing them one step closer to their clinical utility.