Preparation And Properties Of Hybrid PGA/chitosan Braids

Tissue engineering demands artificial scaffolds to have good biocompatibility,molecular activity and excellent mechanical properties, to satisfy the need of tissuereconstruction. Therefore, compounding synthetic biomaterials with naturalbiomaterials and preparing artificial scaffolds which have the mechanical propertiesmatching with this demands of reconstructed tissue are the key problems to concernfor the study of scaffolds materials.In this study, polyglycolide (PGA) fibers were applied as raw materials, whilechitosan fibers were used to hybrid with them. The aim was to change the acidityproduced by degradation products of PGA and to introduce the active group. Thedegradation properties and biocompatibility of the PGA/chitosan hybrid braids wereestimated by in vitro degradation and rabbit articular cartilage defect model. Theresults of in vitro degradation suggested that the PGA acid products may beneutralized by the chitosan and the pH value was regulated. The animal test resultindicated that the biocompatibility of the PGA/chitosan hybrid braids became betterbecause of the introduction of chitosan.Three-dimensional (3-D) scaffolds were prepared by 3-D braid technology. In thisstudy, the mechanical properties of different kinds of chitosan braids were examined.The mechanical properties of 3-D hybrid PGA/chitosan braids were also measured.The results indicated that when the braided yarn of 3-D hybrid PGA/chitosan braidswas made from four PGA bundles and two chitosan bundles, the average tensile loadof PGA/chitosan hybrid braids was 146.7 MPa. It was supposed to be suitable for themechanical demands of tendon or ligament repair.As a conclusion, 3-D hybrid PGA/chitosan braids have good biocompatibility andproper mechanical properties. These 3-D hybrid braids would be potentially suitablefor the repair and reconstruction of loading tissue.