Regenerative Potential of Human Umbilical Cord Vein for Urethral Reconstruction in Male Rabbit Model

Tissue engineering offers an alternative for augmentation urethroplasty; however, no ideal material has yet been developed. Recently, materials derived from amniotic tissues appear to exhibit promising properties. Herein, the aim of this study was to provide a proof of concept for the integration of the human umbilical cord vein for urethral reconstructions in rabbits. Rabbits were included in two groups; the control group underwent urethral reconstruction using autograft urethral tissue, and the test group received xenograft tissue (umbilical cord vein) after creating a 1 × 1 cm defect in the proximal urethra. At 3 weeks, endoscopy and biopsy were performed. At 6 weeks, the animals were euthanized, and their urethra and corpus cavernosum were sent for histopathological analysis. The six rabbits exhibited favorable clinical and endoscopic progress with no fistula or stenosis. Biopsy analysis found no lesion of the urothelium and chorion. Final histological analysis found similar results in both groups: normal histology with moderate urothelium vacuolation and a weak inflammatory cellular infiltrate. The present study provides a proof of concept of human umbilical cord vein as a scaffold for urethral regeneration. This could be an alternative to existing urethral tissue grafting procedures that can have difficulties with integration or immunological tolerance; however, further research is required.