Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Small intestinal submucosa is a good scaffold material for cell migration, growth and proliferation, which has been applied in tissue engineering research.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the feasibility of porcine small intestinal submucosa used as the tendon scaffold for tissue engineering
METHODS: Totally 24 Roman chicken with flexor tendon defects of the left leg were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The composite of porcine small intestinal submucosa and flexor digitorum profoundus tendon in chicken embryos were implanted into the defect area of chicken in the experimental group. The chicken in the control group were implanted with isolated porcine small intestinal submucosa to their defects. Maximum tensile strength of tendon materials in the two groups were detected at weeks 3, 6 and 9 after implantation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At week 3 after implantation, in terms of the maximum tensile strength of tendon materials, there was no significant difference between the experimental group and control group. At weeks 6 and 9 after implantation, the maximum tensile strength of tendon materials in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that the mechanical strength of tissue-engineered tendon scaffolds composited by tendon cells and small intestinal submucosa is stronger than that of tendon repaired by the pure small intestinal submucosa. Small intestinal submucosa can be used as a tendon scaffold material for tissue engineering.