Sung H W, Shih J S, Hsu C S
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
J Biomed Mater Res. 1996 Mar;30(3):361-7. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4636(199603)30:3<361::AID-JBM10>3.0.CO;2-N.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, if left untreated, often produce significant disability in the athletically active population. Currently, autogenous tissue is the most commonly used substitute for ACL reconstruction because its immunogenicity is virtually nonexistent. However, the functional amount of autogenous tissue available for transplantation is limited. Additionally, this transplantation procedure may create a defect at the donor site, which can result in functional disability. To address these concerns, a prototype xenograft ligament prosthesis, epoxy-fixed porcine Achilles tendon, was developed. This study was intended to investigate the crosslinking characteristics of the epoxy-fixed porcine tendon. The fresh and glutaraldehyde-fixed porcine Achilles tendons were used as controls. Fresh porcine Achilles tendons procured from a slaughterhouse were used to fabricate the ligament prostheses. A 4% epoxy (ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether) solution or a 0.625% glutaraldehyde solution was employed to fix the porcine tendons. Samples of each group were taken out at various elapsed fixation periods. The crosslinking characteristics- denaturation temperature, moisture content, and fixation index-of each sample were then determined. In the study, it was learned that the crosslinking rate for the glutaraldehyde fixation was faster than that for the epoxy fixation. While the denaturation temperatures and the fixation indices for both studied groups were higher than for the fresh one, the denaturation temperature of the glutaraldehyde-fixed tendon was relatively higher than its epoxy-fixed counterpart. However, the fixation index and the moisture content for both studied groups were comparable. Also, it was noted that the epoxy-fixed tendon appeared more natural as compared to its glutaraldehyde-fixed counterpart. The implications of these findings for the epoxy-fixed tendon in the clinical ACL reconstruction require further investigation.
前交叉韧带（ACL）损伤若不治疗，在运动活跃人群中往往会导致严重残疾。目前，自体组织是ACL重建最常用的替代物，因为其几乎不存在免疫原性。然而，可用于移植的自体组织功能量有限。此外，这种移植手术可能会在供体部位造成缺损，从而导致功能残疾。为了解决这些问题，研发了一种异种移植韧带假体——环氧固定猪跟腱。本研究旨在调查环氧固定猪腱的交联特性。将新鲜和戊二醛固定的猪跟腱用作对照。从屠宰场获取的新鲜猪跟腱用于制作韧带假体。使用4%的环氧树脂（乙二醇二缩水甘油醚）溶液或0.625%的戊二醛溶液固定猪腱。在不同的固定时间取出每组的样本。然后测定每个样本的交联特性——变性温度、水分含量和固定指数。在该研究中了解到，戊二醛固定的交联速率比环氧固定的更快。虽然两个研究组的变性温度和固定指数均高于新鲜样本，但戊二醛固定肌腱的变性温度相对高于其环氧固定的对应物。然而，两个研究组的固定指数和水分含量相当。此外，还注意到与戊二醛固定的肌腱相比，环氧固定的肌腱看起来更自然。这些发现对环氧固定肌腱在临床ACL重建中的意义需要进一步研究。
