Orthopedic Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater. 2022 Jun;110(6):1279-1291. doi: 10.1002/jbm.b.34999. Epub 2022 Jan 28.
Peritendinous adhesion is considered a major postsurgical tendon complication in hand surgery. This complication could be mitigated partially through early tendon mobilization. However, development of new treatment modalities to guide tissue regeneration and to reduce postsurgical tendon adhesion has recently gained attentions. In this article, synthesis and characterization of electrospun nanofibrous membranes (NFMs) of polycaprolactone (PCL) and chitosan to form a physical barrier against cellular migration leading to tendon adhesion is presented. The mechanical properties of the NFMs are modulated to maintain high integrity during postsurgical tendon mobilization. The tensile strength of the NFMs is examined in wet and dry conditions after 1000 cyclic pull loadings. In addition, the mechanical strength of the NFMs is evaluated after a degradation period of 30 days. To obtain NFM with desired properties, concentrations of polymer solutions, operation parameters of electrospinning and the thickness of NFMs were optimized. Based on the biodegradation and mechanical evaluations, the optimum NFM was obtained for specified amounts of PCL (5 wt %) + chitosan (2 wt %) at an electrospinning drum speed of 400 rpm. The engineered NFM could withstand forces of 33 and 19 N before and after 1000 pull cycles that are sufficient during tendon healing process. The bonding of chitosan fibers over PCL nanofibers allowed for production of NFMs with appropriate mechanical integrity and degradation rate. In vitro cell culture tests demonstrated that PCL/chitosan could only have minor impact on decreasing fibroblast attachment over the membranes probably due to protonation of amine groups.
腱周粘连被认为是手外科术后肌腱的主要并发症。通过早期肌腱活动，这种并发症可以部分减轻。然而，最近人们越来越关注开发新的治疗方法来指导组织再生和减少术后肌腱粘连。本文介绍了聚己内酯（PCL）和壳聚糖的静电纺纳米纤维膜（NFMs）的合成和表征，以形成阻止细胞迁移导致肌腱粘连的物理屏障。NFMs 的机械性能经过调制，以在术后肌腱活动期间保持高完整性。在经受 1000 次循环拉伸负载后，对 NFMs 的干湿条件下的拉伸强度进行了测试。此外，还评估了 NFMs 降解 30 天后的机械强度。为了获得具有所需性能的 NFMs，优化了聚合物溶液的浓度、静电纺丝的操作参数和 NFMs 的厚度。基于生物降解和机械评估，确定了用于指定量的 PCL（5wt%）+壳聚糖（2wt%）的最佳 NFMs，其在 400rpm 的静电纺丝滚筒速度下获得。在经受 1000 次拉伸循环之前和之后，工程化的 NFMs 可以承受 33 和 19N 的力，这在肌腱愈合过程中是足够的。壳聚糖纤维在 PCL 纳米纤维上的结合允许生产具有适当机械完整性和降解率的 NFMs。体外细胞培养试验表明，PCL/壳聚糖可能仅对减少细胞膜上成纤维细胞附着具有较小的影响，这可能是由于胺基质子化。
