Yang Y M, Hu W, Wang X D, Gu X S
Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China.
J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2007 Nov;18(11):2117-21. doi: 10.1007/s10856-007-3013-x. Epub 2007 Jul 10.
In the present study, we investigated the biodegradation of the fibers of chitosan and its acetylated derivatives in vitro and in vivo.
A series of chitosan fibers, with acetylation degrees of 7.7%, 21.6%, 40.9%, 61.2%, 82.5% and 93.4%, were obtained by acetylating chitosan filament with acetic anhydride, and were investigated by FT-IR analysis, elemental analysis and scanning electron microscopy analysis.
The in vitro experimental data indicated that the degradation rate of chitosan fiber was strongly dependent on the degree of acetylation, and the degradation rate increased with an enhancement of the acetylation degree of chitosan fibers. In vivo degradation experiment evaluated by light microscopy as well as scanning electron microscopy, was studied by implanting the fibers between the two nerve stumps of the rat sciatic nerve gap (6 months). The findings demonstrated that acetylation degree could influence the degradation rate of chitosan fibers in vivo.
These results suggested that acetylated chitosan (chitin) fibers were more biodegradable than chitosan and the biodegradation rate of chitin fiber can be controlled to desirable extent by the variation of acetylation degree.
在本研究中，我们对壳聚糖及其乙酰化衍生物纤维在体外和体内的生物降解情况进行了研究。
通过用乙酸酐对壳聚糖长丝进行乙酰化处理，获得了一系列乙酰化度分别为7.7%、21.6%、40.9%、61.2%、82.5%和93.4%的壳聚糖纤维，并通过傅里叶变换红外光谱分析、元素分析和扫描电子显微镜分析对其进行了研究。
体外实验数据表明，壳聚糖纤维的降解速率强烈依赖于乙酰化度，且随着壳聚糖纤维乙酰化度的提高，降解速率增加。通过将纤维植入大鼠坐骨神经间隙（6个月）的两个神经断端之间，利用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对体内降解实验进行了评估。结果表明，乙酰化度会影响壳聚糖纤维在体内的降解速率。
这些结果表明，乙酰化壳聚糖（几丁质）纤维比壳聚糖更易于生物降解，并且通过改变乙酰化度可以将几丁质纤维的生物降解速率控制在理想范围内。
