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Abstract: Objective:: To determine the most suitable type of graft-free penile skin grafts or mucosal grafts from bladder or buccal regions - for urethral reconstruction in an animal model, as evaluated on the basis of angiogenic activity. Methods:: Twenty-two male White New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into four groups. In the control group (group O, n =4) a simple urethrotomy and closure was performed, whereas a ventral urethral defect was created in groups A, B, and C and then bridged using the following onlay patches: free penile skin (group A, n =6), buccal mucosal graft (group B, n =6), and bladder mucosal graft (group C, n =6). On the 21st postoperative day, the animals were sacrificed and the retrieved implants were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic analysis. The angiogenic activity was assessed with immunohistochemistry, using the anti-CD31 MoAb and the phosphatase antialkaline phosphatase procedure. The native vascularity of penile skin as well as buccal and bladder mucosa was assessed in rabbits from group O (n =3). Statistical analysis was performed using the one-way ANOVA. Results:: The angiogenesis in a magnification of ×200 in groups O, A, B, and C was 34.1±4.1 (mean±SD), 61.7±6.4, 94.3±6.4, and 91.5±7.2 vessels per optical field, respectively. There were, statistically significant differences (p <0.001) between groups A and B and between groups A and C, but not (p >0.05) between groups B and C. The native vascularity of penile skin, buccal mucosa and bladder mucosa was 23.3±3.0, 24.6±3.7 and 17.0±2.6 vessels per optical field, respectively. Conclusion:: The viability of mucosal grafts from bladder or buccal regions is better than that of a free penile graft because of higher angiogenic activity. Although the mucosal grafts showed the same angiogenic activity, the buccal mucosa graft is preferable because of its easier harvesting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Cancer chemotherapy may lead to mucositis, a serious dose-limiting side effect. The alkylating agent ifosfamide is used in the treatment of various forms of cancer in combination with the uroprotective thiol mesna (2-mercaptoethane-sulfonate). The aims of this study were to assess the dose response intestinal mucosa damage of ifosfamide and to investigate the potential protective effect of mesna on rabbit intestinal epithelium.Materials and methods: Fifty New Zealand White rabbits were randomly assigned to 10 groups of five animals each and received intravenously every week for 10 weeks either normal saline, ifosfamide, mesna, or ifosfamide plus mesna at three escalating dose levels (ifosfamide: 30, 45, or 60 mg/kg; mesna: 12, 18, or 24 mg/kg divided into two equal doses administered 4 h apart). Intestinal mucosa damage was assessed on the basis of crypt cell apoptosis and proliferation as well as intestinal morphometry. Apoptosis was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis and quantified by the DNA fragmentation assay and a standard terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) method by which the percentage of fragmented DNA and the apoptotic index were determined, respectively. The mitotic index and the crypt-villus (c/v) unit height were also measured in histological sections.Results: Ifosfamide caused a dose-related increase of crypt cell apoptosis and shortening of c/v unit, while it had a steady antimitotic effect. Mesna as a sole agent had no apoptotic or trophic effect on intestinal mucosa and hence no effect on intestinal morphometry. However, mesna, when administered concurrently with ifosfamide, ameliorated apoptosis, hypoproliferation, and mucosal atrophy at a dose-related manner.Conclusions: Ifosfamide causes intestinal mucosa damage, which may be ameliorated in a dose-related manner by coadministration of mesna. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]