Journal article
First quantification of alpha-Gal epitope in current glutaraldehyde-fixed heart valve bioprostheses
F Naso, A Gandaglia, T Bottio, V Tarzia, MB Nottle, AJF D'Apice, PJ Cowan, E Cozzi, C Galli, I Lagutina, G Lazzari, L Iop, M Spina, G Gerosa
Xenotransplantation | Published : 2013
DOI: 10.1111/xen.12044
Abstract
Background Glutaraldehyde fixation does not guarantee complete tissue biocompatibility in current clinical bioprosthetic heart valves (BHVs). Particularly, circulating anti-αGal human antibodies increase significantly from just 10 days after a BHV implantation. The inactivation of such epitope should be mandatory to meet the requirements for a perspectively safe clinical application; nevertheless, its quantitative assessment in commercially available BHVs has never been carried out. Methods In this investigation, seven different models of BHVs were tested. The number of epitopes was determined with reference to a standard αGal source by an ELISA test. The presence of xenoantigen was subseque..
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Awarded by EU FP6 Integrated Project "Xenome"
Awarded by Regione Veneto Grant
Funding Acknowledgements
Authors would like to thank the EU FP6 Integrated Project "Xenome" (www.xenome.eu) contract no LSHB-CT-2006-037377 and CORIT (Consortium for Research in Organ Transplantation, Padua, Italy) for their support. A special thanks to Dr. Paola Aguiari for her technical support in performing histological analysis. The authors do not have any conflicts to disclose. This research has been supported by the "Regione Veneto Grant RSF 286/08" and "Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo" (Italian Heart Project).