Connexin43 Inhibition Prevents Human Vein Grafts Intimal Hyperplasia

Connexin43 Inhibition Prevents Human Vein Grafts Intimal Hyperplasia

Venous bypass grafts often fail following arterial implantation due to excessive smooth muscle cells (VSMC) proliferation and consequent intimal hyperplasia (IH). Intercellular communication mediated by Connexins (Cx) regulates differentiation, growth and proliferation in various cell types. Microarray analysis of vein grafts in a model of bilateral rabbit jugular vein graft revealed Cx43 as an...

Remodeling leads to distinctly more intimal hyperplasia in coronary than in infrainguinal vein grafts.

BACKGROUND Flow patterns and shear forces in native coronary arteries are more protective against neointimal hyperplasia than those in femoral arteries. Yet, the caliber mismatch with their target arteries makes coronary artery bypass grafts more likely to encounter intimal hyperplasia than their infrainguinal counterparts due to the resultant slow flow velocity and decreased wall stress. To al...

Ex vivo carbon monoxide delivery inhibits intimal hyperplasia in arterialized vein grafts.

AIMS Veins are still the best conduits available for arterial bypass surgery. When these arterialized vein grafts fail, it is often due to the development of intimal hyperplasia (IH). We investigated the feasibility and efficacy of the ex vivo pre-treatment of vein grafts with soluble carbon monoxide (CO) in the inhibition of IH. METHODS AND RESULTS The inferior vena cava was excised from don...

Gene delivery to aortocoronary saphenous vein grafts in a large animal model of intimal hyperplasia.

OBJECTIVE More than 50% of aortocoronary saphenous vein grafts are occluded 10 years after surgery. Intimal hyperplasia is an initial, critical step in the progression toward occlusion. To date, no clinically relevant large animal models of aortocoronary saphenous vein graft intimal hyperplasia have been fully characterized. Gene therapy holds promise as a novel treatment for aortocoronary saph...

Flow Patterns in Externally Stented Saphenous Vein Grafts as Related to the Development of Intimal Hyperplasia