Processed human umbilical veins

Processed human umbilical veins are processed within 48 h of delivery according to a procedure developed by Dardik et oL A mandrel is insert into the lumen so as to straighten the vein which has no branches and to eliminate any constrictions formed between the Hoboken nodes. It is then fixed in either glutaraldehyde or a starch dialdehyde. Sometimes an external synthetic knitted mesh is added like a sleeve to reinforce the wall and provoke greater fibrotic tissue proliferation.The durability of the processed human umbilical vein has proven to be less than optimal lipid uptake and bacteremic colonization are typical postoperative complications. ... 

It has been shown that combretastatin A-4 disrupts the microtubules of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in culture, thus confirming that the tubulin binding properties shown in cell-free systems are retained when the compound enters cells and that tubulin binding is a significant component of the biological activity. Also 3-fluoro- and 3-chloro derivatives retained activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. This kind of activity against endothelial cells is extremely important, as endothelial cells play a key role in the angiogenic process. 

Baier RE, Akers CK, Perhnutter S, Dardik H, Dardik I, Wodka M. Processed human umbilical cord veins for vascular reconstructive surgery. Trans Am Soc Artif Intern Organs 1976 22 514-26. 

Salcedo R, Resau JH, Halverson D, et al. Differential expression and responsiveness of chemokine receptors (CXCRl-3) by human microvascular endothehal cells and umbilical vein endothehal cells [in process citation]. FASEB J 2000 14 2055-2064. 

Figure 2.5 (a) Umbilical cord with central vein and smaller snrronnding arteries (left panel). This is clearly demonstrated on the microscopic view (right panel) (b) human umbilical cord vein manufactured as a vascular prosthesis including an outer Dacron mesh (c) retention of graft architecture with glutaraldehyde processing at 2 weeks, 8 months, and 2 years. 

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