A comparison of cryophylactic agents for pretreatment of preserved frozen rat skin

This study is designed to compare various cryophylactic agents in relation to their success in preserving viability of frozen rat skin autografts. Dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, and glycerol were tested as endocellular cryophylactic agents, and sucrose was tested as an extracellular cryophylactic agent. These agents were used in 10% solution by weight or volume, alone or in combination. Rat skin autografts were removed from the abdomen of donor rats and transplanted to the dorsal panniculus carnosus after freezing and thawing to −80°C in one of the protective agents. The comparison of success was made by measuring the change in surface area of the graft over a 28-day period. The gross appearance of hair growth and sear configuration, as well as histological examination, was used as further criteria for the viability of the skin at that time. Sucrose alone, or with dimethylsulfoxide or glycerol, gave statistically superior protection to the rat skin autografts. Dimethylacetamide and dimethylacetamide with sucrose gave very poor protection. A large standard deviation in each series was noted, and it is suggested that there may be a metabolic cycle in rat skin that makes it more sensitive to freeze damage at some period of this cycle.