Abstract:

Objective   To investigate donkey pericardial mechanical properties in  biological valve preparation conditions. Methods   Glutaraldehyde tanned acellular donkey pericardium was regarded as the experimental group, and glutaraldehyde tanned acellular bovine pericardium was regarded as the control group. The donkey pericardium and bovine pericardium were observed under a light microscope to identify the decellularized effect. The properties of temperature shrinkage, pericardial thickness, maximum load, tensile strength and tear strength were compared between the two groups. Results   There were no residual nuclei in the decellularized donkey and bovine pericardium. There were many visible diffuse nuclei existing in the non-decellularized donkey and bovine pericardium. There was no difference between the two groups. The statistical analysis of shrinking temperature showed no significant difference between the experimental group (87.5000±0.5916)℃ and the control group(87.5600±0.3715)℃ (P>0.05 ).  The donkey pericardium were significantly thinner in thickness and higher in tensile strength than the bovine pericardium (P<0.001). However, there were no differences between the two groups in temperature shrinkage, maximum load and tear strength (P>0.05). Conclusion   Glutaraldehyde tanned donkey pericardium is suitable for the production of heart valve materials with mechanical properties.

Key words: Glutaraldehyde; Biological valve; Bovine pericardium; Donkey pericardium