ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Experimental Study on Tissue-Engineered Urethral Graft for Repairing Urethral Defects in a Rabbit Model
Provisionally accepted
- Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
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Objective:Tissue engineering represents a promising alternative for managing severe urethral defects. This study aimed to construct a tissue-engineered urethral graft by combining autologous urethral mucosal epithelial cells with an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and evaluate its efficacy in tubularized repair of long-segment urethral defects in rabbits. Methods:Autologous urethral mucosal epithelial cells were harvested and seeded onto ADM scaffolds to fabricate tissue-engineered grafts. Cell adhesion, proliferation, and viability on the scaffolds were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), CCK-8 assay, and histological analysis. Thirty-six rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (n=12 per group): Group A (control), where defects were repaired by end-to-end anastomosis; Group B (ADM-only), where defects were repaired using a tubularized ADM graft; and Group C (cell–ADM composite), where defects were repaired using a tubularized cell-seeded ADM graft. Radiographic, gross, and histological evaluations were performed 12 weeks post-surgery. Results:The ADM scaffold demonstrated good biocompatibility. The incidence of postoperative complications was 100% in Group A, 66.67% in Group B, and 8.33% in Group C. Statistically significant differences were observed between Group A and Group B, as well as between Group B and Group C (P < 0.05). Urethroscopy, imaging, and histological examinations revealed superior regenerative outcomes in Group C compared to Group B. Conclusion:The tubularized urethral mucosal epithelial cell–ADM composite graft is a feasible and effective strategy for repairing long-segment urethral defects in rabbits, exhibiting significantly better outcomes than ADM alone. Thus, this tissue-engineered construct represents an ideal alternative for long-segment urethral reconstruction.
Keywords: Acellular dermal matrix, TissueEngineering, Urethral mucosal epithelial cells, Urethral reconstruction, Urethral Stricture
Received: 26 Sep 2025; Accepted: 09 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Tian, Sun, Lian and Zhai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongfeng Zhai
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