Creation of Tissue-Engineered Urethras for Large Urethral Defect Repair in a Rabbit Experimental Model

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Introduction: Tissue engineering is a potential source of urethral substitutes to treat severe urethral defects. Our aim was to create tissue-engineered urethras by harvesting autologous cells obtained by bladder washes and then using these cells to create a neourethra in a chronic large urethral defect in a rabbit model. Methods: A large urethral defect was first created in male New Zealand rabbits by resecting an elliptic defect (70 mm2) in the ventral penile urethra and then letting it settle down as a chronic defect for 5–6 weeks. Urothelial cells were harvested noninvasively by washing the bladder with saline and isolating urothelial cells. Neourethras were created by seeding urothelial cells on a commercially available decellularized intestinal submucosa matrix (Biodesign® Cook-Biotech®). Twenty-two rabbits were divided into three groups. Group-A (n = 2) is a control group (urethral defect unrepaired). Group-B (n = 10) and group-C (n = 10) underwent on-lay urethroplasty, with unseeded matrix (group-B) and urothelial cell-seeded matrix (group-C). Macroscopic appearance, radiology, and histology were assessed. Results: The chronic large urethral defect model was successfully created. Stratified urothelial cultures attached to the matrix were obtained. All group-A rabbits kept the urethral defect size unchanged (70 ± 2.5 mm2). All group-B rabbits presented urethroplasty dehiscence, with a median defect of 61 mm2 (range 34–70). In group-C, five presented complete correction and five almost total correction with fistula, with a median defect of 0.3 mm2 (range 0–12.5), demonstrating a significant better result (p = 7.85 × 10−5). Urethrography showed more fistulas in group-B (10/10, versus 5/10 in group-C) (p = 0.04). No strictures were found in any of the groups. Group-B histology identified the absence of ventral urethra in unrepaired areas, with squamous cell metaplasia in the edges toward the defect. In group-C repaired areas, ventral multilayer urothelium was identified with cells staining for urothelial cell marker cytokeratin-7. Conclusions: The importance of this study is that we used a chronic large urethral defect animal model and clearly found that cell-seeded transplants were superior to nonseeded. In addition, bladder washing was a feasible method for harvesting viable autologous cells in a noninvasive way. There is a place for considering tissue-engineered transplants in the surgical armamentarium for treating complex urethral defects and hypospadias cases.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer691131
TidsskriftFrontiers in Pediatrics
Vol/bind9
Antal sider9
ISSN2296-2360
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
We thank the Idipaz Experimental Surgery Team as well as the Idipaz Laboratory Teams of cell culture and molecular imaging and immunohistochemistry for their collaboration in this project, especially Largo C, Valles G, Vallejo MT, and Sanz B. Funding. The project described was supported by the Foundation for Investigation in Urology (Fundaci?n para la Investigaci?n en Urolog ?a-FIU) of the Spanish Association of Urology, with the grant Pedro Cifuentes Diaz. Novo Nordisk foundation (NNFSA170030576) supported authors MF and CC.

Funding Information:
The project described was supported by the Foundation for Investigation in Urology (Fundación para la Investigación en Urología-FIU) of the Spanish Association of Urology, with the grant Pedro Cifuentes Diaz. Novo Nordisk foundation (NNFSA170030576) supported authors MF and CC.

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Amesty, Chamorro, López-Pereira, Martínez-Urrutia, Sanz, Rivas, Lobato and Fossum.

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