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Objective: Peripheral arterial disease results from obstructed blood flow in arteries and increases the risk of amputation in acute cases. Therapeutic angiogenesis using bioengineered tissues composed of a chitosan scaffold that was enriched with mast cells (MCs) and/or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was used to assess the formation of vascular networks and subsequently improved the functional recovery following hindlimb ischemia. This study aimed to find an optimal approach for restoring local vascularization. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, thirty rats were randomly divided into six experimental groups: a. Ischemic control group with right femoral artery transection, b. Ischemia with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control group, c. Ischemia with chitosan scaffold, d. Ischemia with chitosan and MCs, e. Ischemia with chitosan and PRP, and f. Ischemia with chitosan, PRP, and MCs. The left hind limbs served as non-ischemic controls. The analysis of capillary density, arterial diameter, histomorphometric analysis and immunohistochemistry at the transected locations and in gastrocnemius muscles was performed. Results: The group treated with chitosan/MC significantly increased capillary density and the mean number of large blood vessels at the site of femoral artery transection compared with other experimental groups (P<0.05). The treatment with chitosan/MC also significantly increased the muscle fiber diameter and the capillary-to-muscle fiber ratio in gastrocnemius muscles compared with all other ischemic groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggested that chitosan and MCs together could offer a new approach for the therapeutic induction of angiogenesis in cases of peripheral arterial diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Therapeutic angiogenesis is employed to induce vascular network formation and improve functional recovery in ischemia. The aim of this study is to find an appropriate method to recover local ischemic conditions. Materials and Methods: In this experimental survey, 20 male Wistar rats weighing approximately 200-250 g were randomly divided into four experimental groups respectively: ischemia group in which the femoral artery was transected; phosphate buffer solution group (PBS) in which the femoral artery transected location was immersed with PBS; chitosan (CHIT) group in which the transected location was immersed in a 50 μL CHIT solution; and mast cell transplanted group in which the transected location was immersed with a mixture of 50 μL CHIT and 50 μL PBS that contained 1×106 mast cells. Results: On day 14 after surgery, mean numbers of blood vessels of different sizes in the CHIT/mast cell group significantly increased compared to the other experimental groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Our data suggest that mast cell reconstitution could offer a new approach for therapeutic angiogenesis in cases of peripheral arterial diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]