EFFECT OF ALDEHYDE CROSS-LINKING ON HUMAN DERMAL COLLAGEN IMPLANTS IN THE RAT

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 61  (5) , 544-549
Abstract
The fate of s.c. implants of fibrous, trypsin-purified human dermal collagen and collagen cross-linked with formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde was studied in rats. Dermal collagen and untreated skin implants underwent resorption associated with a pronounced round-cell reaction. While collagen implants cross-linked with solutions of 0.04% and 0.08% formaldehyde became reduced in size, those cross-linked with 1% formaldehyde and 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.04% glutaraldehyde, although undergoing some collagen remodeling, retained their original size over the 25 wk period of study. At 5 wk the aldehyde cross-linked implants showed their greatest cellularity, reaching a lower, more stable cell population by 18 wk. More round cells were seen at 5 wk, particularly after formaldehyde cross-linking, than at later times when few were present. Aldehyde-stabilized preparations of heterograft dermal collagen could have applications in the repair of tissue defects in man.