Department of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery & Hand Microsurgery, Ningbo NO.6 Hospital, 1059 East Zhongshan Road, Ningbo, China.
Department of Orthopedics, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou Basic and Clinical Translation of Orthopedics Key Laboratory, Huzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2024 Nov 30;35(1):72. doi: 10.1007/s10856-024-06812-z.
Hydrogels are currently widely used in regenerative medicine and wound repair due to their superior biocompatibility, reliable mechanical strength, and good morphological memory. We aimed to prepare a self-expanding hydrogel that can be used as a skin expander for the repair of large soft skin tissue defects. Self-expanding hydrogels were prepared by chemical cross-linking, which consisted of water-soluble chitosan (CS), acrylamide (AM), methylene bisacrylamide (NMBA), etc. Five groups of in vitro experiments, including (CS-AM) of 0% (pure AM group), 13.9%, 27.8%, 41.7%, and 55.6%, were conducted to determine mechanical properties, swelling properties, cytotoxicity, etc. In the rat model, both a tight skin area (neck) and a loose skin area (back) were selected for expansion with hydrogels. A total of 27.8% of the CS-AM samples expanded stably under the skin of the rats, achieving 370% expansion in the tight zone and 490% expansion in the flaccid zone. Subcutaneous histopathological examination suggested that the inflammation index of the pericolloid tissue was lower in the CS-AM group than in the pure AM group. Our results demonstrate that self-expanding CS-AM hydrogels have great potential for application as skin expanders.
水凝胶由于其优越的生物相容性、可靠的机械强度和良好的形态记忆，目前广泛应用于再生医学和伤口修复。我们旨在制备一种可作为皮肤扩张器的自扩张水凝胶，用于修复大的软组织缺损。自扩张水凝胶通过化学交联制备，由水溶性壳聚糖（CS）、丙烯酰胺（AM）、亚甲基双丙烯酰胺（NMBA）等组成。进行了五组体外实验，包括（CS-AM）的 0%（纯 AM 组）、13.9%、27.8%、41.7%和 55.6%，以确定机械性能、溶胀性能、细胞毒性等。在大鼠模型中，水凝胶用于扩张紧绷皮肤区域（颈部）和松弛皮肤区域（背部）。在大鼠的皮肤下，27.8%的 CS-AM 样品稳定地扩张，在紧绷区域达到 370%的扩张，在松弛区域达到 490%的扩张。皮下组织病理学检查表明，CS-AM 组的胶原周围组织的炎症指数低于纯 AM 组。我们的结果表明，自扩张 CS-AM 水凝胶在作为皮肤扩张器方面具有很大的应用潜力。
