Since Nature published the first report in 2002 on using immunodeficient mice as recipients and allogeneous or heterogeneous testes as donor tissues to study the ectopic development of spermatogenic cells, the technique has been widely applied in various species (including human). In comparison with other in vitro maturation methods for male germ cells, testicular allografting or xenografting technique has such advantages as similar environment for the development of germ cells in physiological conditions, and better reproducibility. Up to now, sperm has been successfully produced by this technique from the testicular tisues of the immature mouse, hamster, cat, rabbit, pig, goat, bovine and rhesus monkey, and their offspring have even been generated by ICSI technique using the mouse and rabbit sperm derived from testis grafts. This article comprehensively reviews the development of the technique by discussing the influencing factors on the germ cell development in grafts including the variety and age of donors, the sex, integrity and immunity of recipients, the graft location and grafting time. And the applications of the technique and the existing problems are discussed as well.
Animals ; Cats ; Cattle ; Cricetinae ; Goats ; Humans ; Macaca mulatta ; Male ; Mice ; Rabbits ; Swine ; Testis ; transplantation ; Transplantation Immunology ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Transplantation, Heterotopic ; Transplantation, Homologous

Total thyroidectomy is increasingly accepted for the management of bilateral benign thyroid disorders. Postoperatively, patients require lifelong levothyroxine replacement therapy to avoid postoperative hypothyroidism, which besides the burden of compliance, has been proven to be associated with several long-term side effects. Heterotopic thyroid autotransplantation was proposed several decades ago to avoid the need for life-long postoperative replacement therapy with maintaining the autoregulatory mechanism of thyroxin production inside the body according to its needs. Available data regarding this topic in literature is relatively poor. Before applying thyroid autotransplantation on humans, several studies have been done on animals, where the autologous transplantations were found to be successful in almost all the cases, proved by follow up postoperative 8-week measurements of thyroid hormones and histopathological examination of the removed autografts. Regarding the clinical application, few trials have been done using cryopreserved in vivo, in vitro or immediately autotransplanted thyroid autografts. Satisfactory results were obtained, however, the number of these studies and the number of patients per each study was very low. Besides the study methodologies were not so consistent.
Animals ; Autografts* ; Compliance ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; In Vitro Techniques ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Hormones ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyroxine ; Transplantation, Autologous* ; Transplantation, Heterotopic

Transplant arteriosclerosis is the main limitation for long-term survival of solid organ transplant recipients. Animal models would provide invaluable tools to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of transplant arteriosclerosis, as well as for studies with novel drugs and other reagents for the prevention of the disease. We have therefore developed a modified technique for aortic transplantation in mice. The central suture ligation of the recipient abdominal aorta allowed a simpler end-to-side anastomosis of a segment of the donor thoracic aorta into the infrarenal portion of the recipient abdominal aorta. Using this technique, the overall survival rate was 94%. We also observed typical aspects of chronic rejection of the aortic allografts not observed with isografts. Our new technique is relatively easy to perform and has a low incidence of thrombosis, thus being useful for studying various aspects of transplant arteriosclerosis.
*Transplantation, Heterotopic ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice ; Male ; Aorta/*transplantation ; Animals

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of auxiliary heterotopic partial liver transplantation on the pig with acute ischemic liver failure.

METHODSWhen portal vein was shrinked more than 85 percent and artery was ligated or reserved, auxiliary heterotopic partial liver transplantation was performed in the pigs. The living condition, liver function, blood supply, pathological change and bile secretion of donor liver were observed, analysed and summarized.

RESULTSIn the artery-ligated pigs, the volume of original liver reduced and the hepatocytes were necrotic evidently. While in the artery-reserved pigs, the colour and hepatocytes of original liver were normal. The volume of donor liver augmented, and the hepatocytes lived and proliferated well.

CONCLUSIONSLiver artery-ligated and portal vein-shrinker can result in acute ischemic liver failure, and auxiliary heterotopic partial liver transplantation is effective to treat this liver failure. reducing portal vein blood supply is little harmful to liver.

Animals ; Female ; Ischemia ; surgery ; Liver Failure, Acute ; etiology ; surgery ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Male ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterotopic ; methods

OBJECTIVETo establish a mouse model of heterotopic heart transplantation.

METHODSIn isotransplantation,BALB/c mice were used as both donors and recipients. In allotransplantation, C57 mice were used as donors and BALB/c mice as recipients. The hearts of donor mice were transplanted into the abdominal cavity of recipient mice, connecting aortic ascent artery of donor mice and abdominal aortic artery of recipient mice, main pulmonary artery of donor mice and inferior vena cava of recipient mice.

RESULTSThe mouse model of heterotopic heart transplantation was established successfully with a success rate of 90 %. The mean time of hot ischemia and cold ischemia were (0.9 +/-0.05) min and (34.8 +/-0.7) min, respectively. The survival time of isograft was more than 100 days and that of allograft was (7.7 +/- 0.3) days.

CONCLUSIONThe operational procedure of donor heart and the quality of blood vessel anastomosis are two key points for successful heterotopic heart transplantation.

Animals ; Heart Transplantation ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Models, Animal ; Peritoneal Cavity ; Transplantation, Heterotopic

OBJECTIVETo establish stoma and stoma-free murine models of heterotopic small intestine transplantation in order to choose a more effective and reliable model.

METHODSA total of 140 male 8-10 weeks age C57BL/6(B6) mice weighted 25-30 g were enrolled in the experiment. Syngeneic heterotopic small intestine transplantation was performed between C57BL/6 mice, and recipient mice were divided into either stoma or stoma-free group. Heterotopic small intestine transplantation was performed in 70 mice, with 35 mice in each group. After closing the proximal end of the graft by ligation, the distal end of graft was exteriorized as a stoma then secured to the skin of the abdominal wall in stoma group. In stoma-free group, the distal end of graft was anastomosed end-to-side to the recipient ileum. Successful rate of operation, two-week survival rate, operation time, associated complications, postoperative care time and body weight change were recorded and compared between two groups.

RESULTSThe successful rate of stoma group was 65.7%, while it was 80.0% of stoma-free group (χ(2)=1.806, P=0.179). The operation time of donor in stoma group was (48.1±6.6) minutes, while it was (47.2±5.9) minutes in stoma-free group (t=0.598, P=0.552). The operation time of recipient in stoma group was (77.9±9.1) minutes, while it was (76.4±8.3) minutes in stoma-free group (t=0.683, P=0.497). The cold ischemic time of graft in stoma group was (34.7±4.0) minutes, while it was (33.9±4.6) minutes in stoma-free group(t=0.667, P=0.507). The two-week survival rate of stoma group was 45.7%, and it was 77.1% of stoma-free group(χ(2)=7.295, P=0.007). The stoma group had more complications[54.3%(19/35) vs. 22.9%(8/35), χ(2)=7.295, P=0.007], which needed more postoperative care time(191 min vs. 35 min). The weight loss in stoma group in the third day after operation was more significant [(81.52±5.20)% vs. (85.46±4.65)%, t=2.856, P=0.006]. By 2 weeks after operation, the weight of mice in both groups retruned to 95% of the postoperative wight.

CONCLUSIONThe murine heteropotic small intestine transplantation model with stoma-free appears to be more reasonable and reliable.

Animals ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Ileum ; surgery ; Intestine, Small ; transplantation ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Surgical Stomas ; Transplantation, Heterotopic ; methods ; Transplantation, Isogeneic

To investigate the pathogenesis of accelerated graft atherosclerosis after rdiac transplantation, a genetically well-defined and reproducible animal del is required. We performed heterotopic intraabdominal heart transplantation tween the two inbred strains of mice. Forty hearts from B10.A mice were ansplanted into B10.BR mice. Recipients were sacrificed at 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28, d 42 days after implantation. The specimens from both donor and recipient were amined with fluorescent immunohistochemistry and the serial histopathologic anges were evaluated. In the donor hearts, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expressions were nimal at day 1 and they gradually increased, reaching their peaks on day 5 or and remained unchanged by day 42. However, there were very little expressions the recipients' hearts. Mean percent areas of intima in the donor coronaries vealed progressive increase by day 42. However, those in the recipients cupied consistently less than 5% of the lumen. In conclusion, we demonstrated at a heterotopic murine heart transplantation model was a useful tool to oduce transplantation coronary artery disease and that adhesion molecules on e cardiac allografts were activated very early and remained elevated at all me-points, nonetheless the arterial lesion was detected after day 28 and its ogression was accelerated thereafter.
Animal ; Coronary Vessels/pathology ; Heart Transplantation*/pathology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1/biosynthesis* ; Mice ; Myocardium/pathology ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Time Factors ; Transplantation, Heterotopic*/pathology ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1/biosynthesis*

BACKGROUNDRe-epithelialization has remained a major obstacle in both tracheal and lung transplantations. This study examines the realization of re-epithelialization by epithelial inoculation in a rat heterotopic tracheal transplantation model.

METHODSThe original epithelia of tracheas from donor Wistar rats were removed and the tracheas were then inoculated with 10(6)/ml in vitro cultured epithelial cells of the Spraque-Dawley (SD) rat phenotype. These allo-tracheas were then heterotopically transplanted into SD rats. After 28 days, the allo-trachea tissues were recovered and assessed for epithelial morphology and cellular differentiation using immunohistochemical analysis. An additional experimental group was used to compare the outcomes of re-epithelialization in immunosuppressed animals.

RESULTSHistological examination showed that allografts with epithelial inoculation maintained patent tracheal lumens, which were obliterated in controls. Recipient immunosuppression facilitated the formation of an integrated ciliated epithelial layer, further demonstrated by the presence of a dense cilia population, a well-developed plasma membrane, and readily recognizable intercellular junctions. Epithelial cellular differentiation markers such as cytokeratin 14 and 18, and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) were all positive in allografts under immunosuppression.

CONCLUSIONConcurrent recipient-derived epithelial inoculation with immunosuppression can result in complete re-epithelialization with the recipient phenotype and suppress the luminal obliteration process in heterotopic transplantations.

Allografts ; cytology ; Animals ; Bronchiolitis Obliterans ; surgery ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; Female ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Trachea ; cytology ; transplantation ; Transplantation, Heterotopic

This paper is aimed to establish a novel abdominal heart transplantation model in mice and to generalize the experience of the successful cases. The thoracic inferior vena cava instead of pulmonary artery was employed to reconstruct the outflow tract of the graft heart (in the new method group, 82 cases). Meanwhile, in other 47 cases as the control group, traditional anastomosis was used between pulmonary artery of the graft and vena cava of the recipient. The recipient surgery time, vena cava-vena cava anastomosis time, graft cold ischemia time and graft re-beating time were (41.5 +/- 1. 5) min, (8.4 +/- 0.6) min, (32.3 +/- 0.4) min and (1.5 +/- 0.2) min respectively. All the above data were statistically superior to those in the traditional method group (P < 0.001 or P < 0.05). The survival rate of 100 d post surgery in the new method group was 93. 9%. Meanwhile, the cardiac tissue remained almost normal examined by HE and Picro-sirus red staining. Therefore, the novel model can facilitate the anastomosis of the outflow tract in recipient operation in mouse heart transplantation model.
Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Animals ; Heart Transplantation ; methods ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Models, Animal ; Peritoneal Cavity ; Pulmonary Artery ; surgery ; Transplantation, Heterotopic ; methods ; Vena Cava, Inferior ; surgery

Purpose: To analyze the clinical results of cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA) for the treatment for osteonecrosis of the femoral head in renal transplant recipients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one cementless THA were performed in 15 renal transplant recipients with advanced osteonecrosis of the hip. The average interval from the transplant to arthroplasty was 43 months (range, 7-122 months). The mean age at the time of arthroplasty was 35 years (range, 25-58 years). The average preoperative Harris hip score was 40 points (range, 31-57 points). The mean follow-up period was 45 months (range, 24-101 months).The articulations were metal-on-polyethylene bearing in 1 case, metal-on-metal in 6 cases, and ceramic-on ceramic in 14 cases. Results: The average postoperative Harris hip score was 91 points (range, 82-94 points), and there were no problems such as wound healing or infections despite the immunosuppressed state. Radiographically, there was one case of femoral and acetabular osteolysis, which had used metal on polyethylene articulation, 80 months after surgery. There was neither aseptic loosening nor dislocation after an average 45 months. Heterotopic ossification was detected in 1 case. Conclusion: The early results of a cementless THA in this young group of renal transplant recipients is encouraging.
Acetabulum ; Arthroplasty ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* ; Ceramics ; Dislocations ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head* ; Hip ; Kidney Transplantation ; Necrosis* ; Ossification, Heterotopic ; Osteolysis ; Osteonecrosis ; Polyethylene ; Transplantation* ; Wound Healing