L-glutamic acid in the prevention of the calcification of bovine pericardial fixed in glutaraldehyde: study in rats Ácido L-glutâmico na prevenção da calcificação de pericárdio bovino fixado em glutaraldeído: estudo em ratos

AbstractObjective: To evaluate the efficiency of L-glutamic acidto prevent calcification of glutaraldehyde bovine pericardiumimplanted in rats’ subcutaneous tissues. Methods: Fifty four Wistar rats were divided in six groupsaccording to the type of the bovine pericardium implanted.At first, all pericardia were initially cross-linked with 0.5%glutaraldehyd (GDA) fixative for 72 h. In Group I, after theinitial fixation, the pericardia were preserved in 0.2% GDAfixative until the implantation, whereas in Group II theywere stocked in Paraben solution. In Groups III and IV, afterthe initial fixation in 0.5% GDA fixative, the pericardiawere treated with 8% L-glutamic acid at pH 7.4 and 3.5,respectivelly, being subsequently stocked in Parabensolution. Groups V and VI were similar to III and IV, exceptfor the concentration of L-Glutamic acid which was 0.8%.Explantation was done at 15, 30, and 60 days, and thespecimens submitted to histological analysis withHematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Von Kossa stains, besidescalcium quantification with atomic spectrofotometry.