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Materials used for the manufacture of implants may suffer alterations in their surface properties as a result of continuous contact with physiological fluids. Moreover, in biodegradable and bioabsorbable materials, such as polylactic acid (PLA), these changes may be more accentuated, and their biological response may be affected by the presence of proteins, enzymes or other compounds of an oxidizing character. This research proposes to study the degradation of PLA in a close-to-reality environment by supplementing the physiological buffer m- SBF with concentrations of glucose and ketone bodies of healthy individuals. To this end, parameters such as hydrophobicity, surface tension, topography and surface chemical composition of PLA films and PLA films doped with magnesium particles after degradation were evaluated to determine how these components influence these properties compared to degradation in standard buffer. The presence of glucose and/or ketone bodies in the degradation medium of PLA doped with magnesium particles altered the composition of the salt layers absorbed on the surface of the material due to the action of gluconate and/or hydroxybutyrate anions, which were able to coordinate with ions from the solution as well as Mg2+ cations from polymer degradation. The salt accumulation on polymeric films changes the surface mechanical response increasing the Young's modulus after degradation. • Composition of physiological medium affects the biodegradability of polylactic acid. • Glucose promotes CaP layer formation on Mg-containing polylactic acid films. • Ketone bodies increase hydrophilicity of Mg-containing polylactic acid films. • Both compounds have to be considered in in vitro degradation models of biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • It is possible to spontaneously create ordered micro-structures on PLA surface. • The patterns obtained are hole type. • Doping the PLA with Mg and/or CTAB, sizes between 0.5 and 20 μm can be achieved. • New surfaces could favour cell adhesion and not bacterial adhesion. The fabrication of biomaterials with structured surfaces for medical purposes is a topic of great interest. Producing topographies with certain characteristics can benefit tissue formation and/or reduce the probability of developing an infection due to the hindrance shown by certain micro-structures to microbial adhesion. This work presents a new, economically attractive way to fabricate micro-structured patterns on the surface of one of the currently most interesting bioabsorbable polymeric materials, polylactic acid (PLA). Formation of homogeneously distributed holes is presented as a function of three factors: the concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the presence or not of the dispersant magnesium, and the hydrophobicity of the support used in the PLA-film fabrication, silicone or glass. The size of the holes increases with the CTAB concentration: from 1 to 5 µm on silicone and 2 to 20 µm on glass. Magnesium particles make CTAB to disperse better inside the PLA matrix, provoking the irregular holes observed on glass become regular with sizes between 0.5 and 2 µm. The topographies obtained on silicone are highly stable over time, while on glass they degrade after 28 days. Consequently, it is possible to design a wide spectrum of micro-structured topographies, covering both antimicrobial and tissue integration targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma treatment is one of the methods currently used to obtain polymeric materials with surface properties appropriate to the functionality for which they were designed. However, the effects achieved after surface modification are not always long lasting and involve chemical and physical changes in the outermost layer. In this context, the effects of both argon and oxygen plasma on polylactic acid (PLA) films deposited on titanium were studied to determine which physical and chemical processes occur at the surface, and their duration. Regarding physical surface changes, there were scarcely any differences between both plasmas: roughness was very similar after treatments, root mean square height (Sq) being 10 times higher than the control, without plasma. Water contact angle (WCA) showed that the surface became more hydrophilic after application of the plasma, although hydrophilization was longer lasting in the case of argon treatment. With regard to chemical changes, it was observed that the argon plasma treatment caused greater fragmentation of the polymer chains, and increased crosslinking between them. ToF-SIMS analysis made it possible to propose mechanisms to explain the formation of the fragments observed. • Oxygen and argon treatment make the PLA surface more hydrophilic. • Ar plasma induces more long lasting hydrophilization than O 2 plasma. • O 2 plasma leads to new oxygen-rich, higher molecular weight species. • Ar plasma favors cross-linking and fragmentation of the polymer chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mg-based materials provide a proper antibacterial environment against nearby bacteria. • The antibacterial action of Mg is produced by a multifaceted mechanism. • pH change, ROS production, [Mg2+ and Mg nanoparticles act against bacteria. • In vivo antibacterial activity of Mg-based biomaterials remains an open question. Magnesium is currently increasing interest in the field of biomaterials. An extensive bibliography on this material in the last two decades arises from its potential for the development of biodegradable implants. In addition, many researches, motivated by this progress, have analyzed the performance of magnesium in both in vitro and in vivo assays with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in a very broad range of conditions. This review explores the extensive literature in recent years on magnesium in biomaterials-related infections, and discusses the mechanisms of the Mg action on bacteria, as well as the competition of Mg2+ and/or synergy with other divalent cations in this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]