Protective Value of Sevoflurane to Glycocalyx under Low Shear Stress Based on a Microfluidic Vessel Chip

The vessel-on-a-chip has shown a significant preponderance in vascular disease research. While the vessel-on-a-chip has rarely demonstrated the effects of endogenous and/or exogenous stimuli on endothelial glycocalyx that plays a critical role in regulating vessel function. Here, an innovative vessel-on-a-chip combined with inverse opal films was developed to investigate glycocalyx integrity and its barrier function under different stimuli. By integrating inverse opal films into the chip, we achieved the real-time observation of the barrier function of glycocalyx in vitro. We demonstrated that the glycocalyx integrity and its barrier function can be maintained under physiological shear stress, and further, the restoration of glycocalyx treated with sevoflurane after being destroyed by low shear stress was also confirmed. Thus, it is clear that the vessel-on-a-chip system holds considerable promise for studying the mechanisms of various vessel diseases and provides a valuable candidate for preclinical drug assessment.