Fabrication and evaluation of an optimized xenogenic decellularized costal cartilage graft: preclinical studies of a novel biocompatible prosthesis for rhinoplasty

On account of the poor biocompatibility of synthetic prosthesis, millions of rhinoplasty recipients have been forced to choose autologous costal cartilage as grafts, which suffer from limited availability, morbidity at the donor site and prolonged operation time. Here, as a promising alternative to autologous costal cartilage, we developed a novel xenogeneic costal cartilage and explored its feasibility as a rhinoplasty graft for the first time. Adopting an improved decellularization protocol, in which the ionic detergent was substituted by trypsin, the resulting decellularized graft was confirmed to preserve more structural components and better mechanics, and eliminate cellular components effectively. The in vitro and in vivo compatibility experiments demonstrated that the decellularized graft showed excellent biocompatibility and biosecurity. Additionally, the functionality assessment of rhinoplasty was performed in a rabbit model, and the condition of grafts after implantation was comprehensively evaluated. The optimized graft exhibited better capacity to reduce the degradation rate and maintain the morphology, in comparison to the decellularized costal cartilage prepared by conventional protocol. These findings indicate that this optimized graft derived from decellularized xenogeneic costal cartilage provides a new prospective for future investigations of rhinoplasty prosthesis and has great potential for clinical application.

Automated summary

The translated content discusses the issue of poor biocompatibility of synthetic prostheses and proposes a novel xenogeneic rib cartilage graft as an alternative. By improving the decellularization protocol and using trypsin instead of an ionic detergent, the resulting decellularized graft demonstrated better structural components, mechanics, and excellent biocompatibility and biosecurity. Functional assessment in a rabbit model showed improved degradation rate and morphology maintenance compared to traditional decellularized rib cartilage, indicating great potential for future investigations and clinical applications of rhinoplasty prostheses.