Micro-RNA–Regulated Proangiogenic Signaling in Arteriovenous Loops in Patients with Combined Vascular and Soft-Tissue Reconstructions: Revisiting the Nutrient Flap Concept

What is it about?

Arteriovenous (AV) loops are surgically placed connections between arteries and veins. In animal models, these constructs have been shown to be able to induce the sprouting of new blood vessels into the surrounding tissue. The driving force behind this is the increased blood flow within these vascular short-circuits. In human patients AV loops are created to provide blood vessels to wound defects which lack local blood vessels for vascular connections of free flaps (i.e. tissue, which has been transplanted from a healthy area of the body to cover a large or complex wound). In this study, tissue samples from AV loops were analyzed by molecular biological research techniques in order to examine if human AV loops also have the ability to promote the growth of new blood vessels, and what are the mechanisms behind that. We show that “pro-angiogenic” genes which promote blood vessel growth are activated in human AV loops, which demonstrates that the high blood flow within these vascular short-circuits may have the same potential to induce sprouting of new vessels as in existing animal models. The identification and characterization of these pro-angiogenic factors involved in the formation of new blood vessels may provide novel tools for molecular therapies supporting reconstructive surgery.

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