Mohan Sunil Paramel, Palaniappan Arunkumar
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sree Anjaneya Institute of Dental Sciences, and Director, Centre of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Malabar Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kozhikode, Kerala, India.
VIT Centre for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2023 Jul;15(Suppl 1):S673-S676. doi: 10.4103/jpbs.jpbs_63_23. Epub 2023 Jul 5.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring biodegradable, high molecular weight, non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) polymer known for its excellent biocompatibility. HA-based products are widely used as viscosupplements, dermal fillers, and ophthalmic lubricants in clinical settings. Although animal and bacterial-derived HA are commonly reported, plant-sourced HA is not frequently reported. In this study, we have evaluated various viscoelastic properties of one such plant-based HA solution and propose them as an alternative to existing animal/bacteria-sourced HA.
The viscoelastic properties of plant-sourced HA solution of various concentrations (0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, and 2% in PBS) were studied using a rheometer at 37°C. Flow curves, amplitude sweep studies, and frequency sweep studies were performed and compared for all HA solutions.
The HA solutions displayed shear-thinning behavior, which is an important characteristic of an injectable biomaterial. The 0.1 and 0.5% HA were found to have viscoelastic properties appropriate for eye lubricants, while 1 and 2% HA solutions showed properties suitable for soft tissue fillers. Frequency sweep studies indicated that all the samples are typically viscoelastic liquids with a loss modulus (G″) higher than the storage modulus (G'). This indicated that the samples needed further processing like crosslinking of HA or using higher molecular weight HA to be suitable as viscosupplements. However, the frequency sweep studies also indicated that these solutions can be used as soft tissue fillers of any type based on the G' and tan δ values.
The plant-sourced HA solutions are found to exhibit good shear-thinning properties with viscoelastic properties suitable for eye lubricants and soft tissue fillers. However, to be used as viscosupplements, the viscoelastic properties of HA solutions have to be further modified through non-toxic crosslinking strategies, and hydrophobic derivatives as well as by using high molecular weight HAs.
透明质酸（HA）是一种天然存在的可生物降解的高分子量非硫酸化糖胺聚糖（GAG）聚合物，以其优异的生物相容性而闻名。基于HA的产品在临床环境中被广泛用作粘性补充剂、真皮填充剂和眼科润滑剂。虽然动物和细菌来源的HA报道较为常见，但植物来源的HA报道较少。在本研究中，我们评估了一种此类植物基HA溶液的各种粘弹性特性，并提议将其作为现有动物/细菌来源HA的替代品。
使用流变仪在37°C下研究了不同浓度（在PBS中为0.1%、0.5%、1%和2%）的植物来源HA溶液的粘弹性特性。对所有HA溶液进行了流动曲线、振幅扫描研究和频率扫描研究并进行比较。
HA溶液表现出剪切变稀行为，这是可注射生物材料的一个重要特性。发现0.1%和0.5%的HA具有适合眼部润滑剂的粘弹性特性，而1%和2%的HA溶液表现出适合软组织填充剂的特性。频率扫描研究表明，所有样品通常都是粘弹性液体，损耗模量（G″）高于储能模量（G'）。这表明样品需要进一步处理，如HA交联或使用更高分子量的HA才能适合作为粘性补充剂。然而，频率扫描研究也表明，基于G'和损耗角正切（tan δ）值，这些溶液可用于任何类型的软组织填充剂。
发现植物来源的HA溶液具有良好的剪切变稀特性，其粘弹性特性适合眼部润滑剂和软组织填充剂。然而，要用作粘性补充剂，HA溶液的粘弹性特性必须通过无毒交联策略、疏水衍生物以及使用高分子量HA进行进一步改性。
