A new material for tissue engineered vagina reconstruction: Acellular porcine vagina matrix.

Acellular matrix materials have been widely used to repair various tissues and organs. According to the plastic principle, when a part of the body is lost, it should be replaced with a similar material. Therefore, the use of a homologous organ-specific acellular vaginal tissue in vagina reconstruction repair surgery may show good results. However, the acellular vagina matrix (AVM) form large vertebrates is difficult to isolate. In this study, we described a multistep method to prepare porcine AVM and evaluated the efficacy of acellularization. We also investigated the biomechanical properties, biological activity elements, and biocompatibility of the porcine AVM. We then used this material to reconstruct a rat vagina and performed further morphologic and functional analyses. Small intestinal submucosa (SIS), which is a commonly used acellular matrix material, was used in a control group. Histological examination, DNA content analysis, and agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that the decellularization procedure was effective. The AVM had acceptable biomechanical properties and sufficient growth factor production (VEGF, FGF, TGF-β1, and PDGF-BB) compared with that of the SIS. Subcutaneous transplantation in rats showed that the AVM had good biocompatibility. The tissue-engineered vagina using the AVM more resembled normal-appearing tissue than did that using SIS following morphologic and functional analyses. The AVM has great potential for application in vaginal reconstructive surgery.