Qualitative analysis of the deposit of collagen in bladder suture of rats treated with tacrolimus combined with mycophenolate-mofetil.

PURPOSE To evaluate the synthesis of type I (mature) and type III (immature) collagen in bladder suture of rats treated with a combination of tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil for 15 days. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty rats were divided into 3 groups: the sham, control and experimental groups. All the animals underwent laparotomy, cystotomy and bladder suture in two planes with surgical PDS 5-0 thread. The sham group did not receive treatment. The control group received saline solution, and the experimental group received 0.1mg/kg/day of tacrolimus with 20mg/kg/day of mycophenolate mofetil, for 15 days. From then on, the tacrolimus was dosed. The surgical specimens of the bladder suture area were processed so that the total type I and type III collagen could be measured by the picrosirius red technique. RESULTS There was a predominance of type I collagen production in the sham and control groups compared to the experimental group, in which type III collagen was predominant. The production of total collagen did not change. CONCLUSION The association of tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil in animals qualitatively changes the production of collagen after 15 days with a predominance of type III collagen.