Page 56 - Effects of radiotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy on oral microcirculation Renee Helmers

Chapter 3
tissue preparations for targeted tissue investigations under different (patho-) physiological conditions.27 SDF imaging has been used in various medical fields for investigations into tissue perfusion abnormalities in critically ill patients associated with sepsis, septic shock and cardiac surgery.2,3 Recently, SDF imaging has been used for investigating the dynamics of wound vascular regeneration under both normal and pharmacological conditions.14,15
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of HBOT in promoting vascular regeneration in healing oral mucosal surgical flaps. Functional capillary density (FCD), a diffusion-related parameter derived from direct anatomical examination of blood perfused capillaries, was used to objectively quantify the temporal course of mucosal flap vascularization under normal and HBOT conditions using SDF imaging.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The protocols and study guidelines for this investigation were reviewed and approved by the institutional Animal Experimentation Committee of the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. Animal care and use was performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Dutch Committee of Animal Experiments.
Animals
Ten male specific-pathogen free New Zealand White rabbits (Charles River Laboratories France, L’Arbresle Cedex, France) with a mean body weight of 3.3±0.1 kg were randomly allocated into two groups of 5: control and HBOT. Before initiating the study, all animals were permitted 1 week to adapt to their new environments and were housed individually in large conventional cages in a light-controlled room (12 hours light: 12 hours dark) kept at 22±1oC with a relative humidity of 55±10% and received standard food pellets and water for consumption ad libitum. Animals designated to receive HBOT were trained simultaneously during their 1-week acclimatization to get accustomed to their individual HBOT compartment. Animals were accommodated in their own compartment daily for 90 minutes at the same time of day.
All animals received a mixture of ketamine (Nimatek, Eurovet Animal Health BV, Bladel, The Netherlands; 15 mg/kg) and dexmedetomidine (Dexdomitor, Pfizer Animal Health BV, Capelle aan den IJssel, The Netherlands;
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