Effects of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) degradability on the apatite-forming capacity of electrospun PLGA/SiO2–CaO nonwoven composite fabrics

✍ Scribed by In Ae Kim; Sang-Hoon Rhee

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 539 KB
• Volume: 9999B
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1552-4973
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.31578

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We investigated the effects of poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) degradability on the apatite‐forming ability of electrospun PLGA/SiO~2~–CaO gel composite fabric. Two PLGA copolymer compositions with low and high degradability were used in experiments. A nonwoven polymer/ceramic composite fabric composed of randomly mixed microsized biodegradable PLGA fibers and nanosized bioactive SiO~2~–CaO gel fibers was prepared using a simultaneous electrospinning method. A 17 wt.% PLGA solution was prepared using 1,1,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol as a solvent, while the SiO~2~–CaO gel solution was prepared via a condensation reaction following hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate under acidic conditions. PLGA and SiO~2~–CaO gel solutions were spun simultaneously with two separate nozzles under electric fields of 1 and 2 kV/cm using two syringe pumps with flow rates of 7.5 and 5 mL/h, respectively. As controls, low and high degradable PLGA and SiO~2~–CaO gel nonwoven fabrics were also made by the same methods. The five nonwoven fabrics that were produced were exposed to simulated body fluid (SBF) for 1 week. SBF exposure resulted in the deposition of a layer of apatite crystals on the surfaces of both the SiO~2~–CaO gel and the low degradable PLGA/SiO~2~–CaO gel composite fabrics, but not on the low and high degradable PLGA or the high degradable PLGA/SiO~2~–CaO gel composite fabrics. The results are explained in terms of the acidity of the PLGA degradation products, which could have a direct influence on apatite dissolution. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2010