Intimal proliferation in an organ culture of human saphenous vein.

This study investigated whether intimal proliferation, the characteristic feature of the response of human saphenous vein to arterial implantation, also occurs in organ culture. Vein segments were maintained for 14 days in medium supplemented with 30% fetal bovine serum. Tissue viability (measured by adenosine triphosphate [ATP] concentration) decreased only 20% from 280 +/- 20 to 220 +/- 20 nmol/g wet weight. In veins prepared for culturing, endothelial loss (approximately 20%) was confined to near the cut edges. Cultured veins retained an endothelial layer in the initially undamaged areas, while the initially injured areas became covered by a mixture of endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. Autoradiography in conjunction with scanning electron microscopy showed the presence of proliferating cells on the intimal surface. Transverse sections of cultured veins showed the development of a new intima containing vascular smooth muscle cells identified by immunocytochemistry with anti-alpha-actin. There were also endothelial cells identified with Ulex europaeus lectin arranged in capillarylike structures. Pulse or continuous labeling of cultures with [3H]thymidine showed that proliferating cells were confined to the new intima and suggested that the smooth muscle cells in this layer arose from both immigration and proliferation. The results demonstrate that intimal proliferation occurs in organ culture of human saphenous veins.