Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology Program, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts 02747, USA.
J Biomed Mater Res A. 2012 May;100(5):1160-7. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.34057. Epub 2012 Feb 15.
Incisional hernias represent a serious and common complication following laparotomy. The use of synthetic (e.g. polypropylene) meshes to aid repair of these hernias has considerably reduced recurrence rates. While polypropylene is biocompatible and has a long successful clinical history in treating hernias and preventing reherniation, this material may suffer some limitations, particularly in challenging patients at risk of wound failure due to, for example, an exaggerated inflammation reaction, delayed wound healing, and infection. Surface modification of the polypropylene mesh without sacrificing its mechanical properties, critical for hernia repair, represents one way to begin to address these clinical complications. Our hypothesis is treatment of a proprietary polypropylene mesh with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) will increase in vitro NIH/3T3 cell attachment, predictive of earlier and improved cell colonization and tissue integration of polypropylene materials. Our goal is to achieve this altered surface functionality via enhanced removal of chemicals/oils used during material synthesis without compromising the mechanical properties of the mesh. We found that NaOH treatment does not appear to compromise the mechanical strength of the material, despite roughly a 10% decrease in fiber diameter. The treatment increases in vitro NIH/3T3 cell attachment within the first 72 h and this effect is sustained up to 7 days in vitro. This research demonstrates that sodium hydroxide treatment is an efficient way to modify the surface of polypropylene hernia meshes without losing the mechanical integrity of the material. This simple procedure could also allow the attachment of a variety of biomolecules to the polypropylene mesh that may aid in reducing the complications associated with polypropylene meshes today.
切口疝是剖腹手术后一种严重且常见的并发症。使用合成（例如聚丙烯）网片来辅助修复这些疝可以显著降低复发率。虽然聚丙烯具有生物相容性，并且在治疗疝和防止复发方面具有长期成功的临床历史，但这种材料可能存在一些局限性，特别是在存在伤口失败风险的具有挑战性的患者中，例如炎症反应过度、伤口愈合延迟和感染。在不牺牲其机械性能的情况下对聚丙烯网片进行表面改性，对于疝修复至关重要，这是解决这些临床并发症的一种方法。我们的假设是，用氢氧化钠（NaOH）处理专利聚丙烯网片将增加体外 NIH/3T3 细胞黏附，这预示着细胞更早、更好地定植和组织整合到聚丙烯材料中。我们的目标是通过增强去除材料合成过程中使用的化学物质/油来实现这种改变的表面功能，而不影响网片的机械性能。我们发现，NaOH 处理似乎不会损害材料的机械强度，尽管纤维直径大约减少了 10%。该处理在体外 72 小时内增加 NIH/3T3 细胞的黏附，并且这种效果在体外持续 7 天。这项研究表明，氢氧化钠处理是一种有效的方法，可以对聚丙烯疝网片进行表面改性，而不会失去材料的机械完整性。这种简单的处理方法还可以使各种生物分子附着在聚丙烯网片上，这可能有助于减少今天与聚丙烯网片相关的并发症。
