Plasma protein adsorption pattern and tissue-implant reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol)/carboxymethyl-chitosan blend films.

Various poly(vinyl alcohol)/carboxymethyl-chitosan (PVA/CMCS) blend films were prepared by a mechanical blending method and characterized by SEM for their surface and cross-section morphologies. It indicated that blending high CMCS content in PVA plastic led to a rough surface and loose structure. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine fibrinogen (BFG) were chosen as representative plasma proteins to carry out adsorption tests. Equilibrium adsorption amount of proteins onto the blends decreased with the increase of CMCS content in film matrix, and BSA was more easily adsorbed onto the films than BFG in the same conditions. The blend films also exhibited different trends for BSA and BFG adsorption when pH of the media changed, but maximum adsorption approximately occurred at the isoelectric point of proteins. Moreover, increasing the ionic strength would always decrease the adsorptions of protein onto the films. In animal experiments, it was found that incorporation of CMCS and PVA gave a lower tissue reaction than pure PVA films when they were subcutaneously implanted in Wistar rats. After two weeks subcutaneous implantation, surfaces of PVA became wrinkled and cracked; however, the blend implants exhibited a alveolate porous microstructure.