Deshpande Monica V, Girase Arjunsing, King Martin W
Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2023 Sep 19;15(18):3819. doi: 10.3390/polym15183819.
Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a hydrophobic, resorbable aliphatic polymer recognized for its low tenacity and extensive elongation at break, making it a popular choice for fabricating biodegradable tissue engineering scaffolds. PCL's slow degradation rate typically results in a complete resorption period of 2 to 3 years. While numerous studies have examined the degradation of PCL in various forms such as films and webs, no study to date has investigated its physiological degradation in multifilament yarn form. In this study, we subjected PCL multifilament yarn samples to physiological conditions in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) maintained at a consistent temperature of 37 ± 2 °C and agitated at 45 rpm for a period of 32 weeks. We retrieved samples at five different intervals to analyze the degradation profile of the multifilament yarn. This allowed us to estimate the complete resorption time and rate under these in vitro conditions. Over the 32-week period, the multifilament yarn's mass decreased by 4.8%, its elongation at break declined by 42%, the tenacity dropped by 40%, and the peak load at break fell by 46.5%. Based on these findings, we predict that a scaffold structure incorporating PCL multifilament yarn would undergo complete resorption in approximately 14 months under physiological conditions, such as in PBS solution at a pH of approximately 7 and a temperature of 37 °C.
聚（ε-己内酯）（PCL）是一种疏水性、可吸收的脂肪族聚合物，以其低强度和高断裂伸长率而闻名，这使其成为制造可生物降解组织工程支架的热门选择。PCL的缓慢降解速率通常导致2至3年的完全吸收期。虽然许多研究已经考察了PCL在薄膜和纤维网等各种形式下的降解情况，但迄今为止尚无研究调查其在复丝纱线形式下的生理降解情况。在本研究中，我们将PCL复丝纱线样品置于磷酸盐缓冲盐水（PBS）的生理条件下，保持在37±2°C的恒定温度，并以45转/分钟的速度搅拌32周。我们在五个不同的时间间隔采集样品，以分析复丝纱线的降解情况。这使我们能够估计在这些体外条件下的完全吸收时间和速率。在32周的时间里，复丝纱线的质量下降了4.8%，断裂伸长率下降了42%，强度下降了40%，断裂峰值负荷下降了46.5%。基于这些发现，我们预测，在生理条件下，如在pH约为7、温度为37°C的PBS溶液中，包含PCL复丝纱线的支架结构将在大约14个月内完全吸收。
