doi:10.3390/ijms27031309engSerrano-Casorrán, CarolinaRodríguez-Zapater, SergioRodríguez-Panadero, FranciscoGómez, RaquelBonastre, CristinaGuirola, José AndrésRodríguez, JoséGregorio, Miguel Ángel deThe local damage and systemic inflammation induced by a biodegradable polydioxanone Stent implanted in the rabbit trachea decreases markedly with Stent degradationART-2026-148715Biodegradable tracheal stents have been developed to overcome the limitations of metallic and removable stents in benign airway disease. This study evaluated the local and systemic inflammatory response induced by a biodegradable polydioxanone tracheal stent in a rabbit model. Twenty-one rabbits were assigned to three follow-up groups (30, 60, and 90 days). In each group, six animals received a tracheal stent, and one served as a sham control. Clinical status and respiratory symptoms were monitored, and serial peripheral blood interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels were measured. At the end of follow-up, tracheoscopy, IL-8 quantification in tracheal lavage, and necropsy were performed. No deaths or severe respiratory symptoms occurred. Tracheoscopic findings were significantly less severe after stent degradation, with reduced congestion (p = 0.030), inflammation (p = 0.003), and secretions (p = 0.030). Two granulomas and two cases of stenosis were identified. Mean IL-8 expression in tracheal lavage (relative quantification, RQ) was 14,129 ± 3007 when the stent was present and 426 ± 100 after degradation (p = 0.003). Blood IL-8 expression increased significantly on day 1 compared with baseline (p = 0.022) and subsequently decreased (p = 0.034). Inflammatory and structural alterations induced by a polydioxanone tracheal stent decrease after stent degradation.2026http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/17017710.3390/ijms27031309http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170177oai:zaguan.unizar.es:170177info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/B36-23RInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences 27, 3 (2026), 1309 [12 pp.]byhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.esinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess