A new carotid artery transplantation model of rats

To establish a murine carotid artery transplantation model for the study of the chronic re-jection,80 rats were divided into two groups,an allotransplant (ACI-Lewis) group and an isotrans-plant (Lewis-Lewis) group (control group).The donor carotid artery and the recipient carotid artery were anastomosed by using a polyethylene cuff (internal diameter:0.7 mm,length:3 mm).The pathological changes of carotid artery transplant were observed 14,28 and 56 days after the trans-plantation.The results showed that the model was successfully established in 95% of the animals.The chronic rejection-associated arteriosclerosis was induced 28 days after the transplantation.The new chronic rejection model of carotid artery by using cuff technique caused fewer traumas and was easy to make.The pathological changes of the transplant mimicked the chronic rejection-associated arteriosclerosis found in human transplant.