Subacute bloodstream blockade effect by supercontraction of spider silk.

Abstract

The present experiment was designed to test the subacute bloodstream blockade effect of supercontraction of spider silk on the femoral artery of rats. Observation on ligated femoral artery lasted 10 days. Blood flow, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and oxidatively modified proteins in serum were measured before and after ligation. Meanwhile, histological manifestations of femoral artery at different times were observed by HE stain. We found that blood flow and systolic/diastolic blood pressure of femoral artery showed a descending tendency. Biochemical assay showed that oxidatively modified proteins significantly increased in the first 3 days and reached peak on the third day. Histological examination demonstrated that there was a progressive procedure from partial to complete occlusion of lumen of blood vessel and there was possibility of recanalization at last in the occlusive vessel. Our study indicated that ligation by spider silk might be applied to models of subacute ischemic disease such as subacute femoral artery ischemia, subacute or chronic ischemic cardiocerebrovascular disease, etc.