Search

The extracellular matrices of a variety of human and animal tissues have been utilized as scaffold materials for soft tissue applications including hernia repair, dermal grafts, and tendon, ligament, and cartilage reconstruction. While these biological scaffolds are expected to demonstrate superior tissue integration, there is very little evidence documenting the properties and behavior of these materials in vivo. This in vivo study investigated four biological scaffolds: two commercially available (a moderately crosslinked scaffold and a noncrosslinked scaffold) and two novel porcine diaphragm biological scaffolds (one with and one without the incorporation of gold nanoparticles). The scaffolds were implanted in a porcine model and evaluated over 1, 3, and 6 months. The moderately crosslinked scaffolds demonstrated the least cellular infiltration and evidence of fibrosis. The noncrosslinked scaffolds demonstrated the greatest cellular infiltration, but these scaffolds were delaminated and exhibited a rapid loss of integrity. The porcine diaphragm scaffolds with and without nanoparticles showed evidence of tissue remodeling and cellular infiltration, with no evidence of encapsulation. While there were no significant differences in the performance of the two novel scaffolds, the gold nanoparticle scaffold typically exhibited higher cellular infiltration. This study demonstrated the potential biocompatibility of a gold nanoparticle-tissue scaffold., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., a Wiley Company.)

Two novel, bionanocomposite scaffolds were evaluated in a rodent model over the course of three months to determine whether these scaffolds possessed adequate biocompatibility characteristics to warrant further evaluation as possible tissue reconstruction scaffolds. These bionanocomposite scaffolds were comprised of amine-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNP) or silicon carbide nanowires (SiCNW) crosslinked to an acellular porcine diaphragm tendon. It was hypothesized that the addition of nanomaterials to the porcine tendon would also improve its biocompatibility by imparting a nanostructured surface. As early as seven days after implantation, both types of bionanocomposite scaffolds displayed evidence of granulation tissue and the beginning of scaffold remodeling with new collagen deposited by the host, and by ninety-seven days the bionanocomposite scaffolds were completely remodeled with no evidence of any adverse host tissue reaction or scar tissue formation. The AuNP bionanocomposite scaffolds exhibited accelerated scaffold remodeling compared to the SiCNW scaffolds., (Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Extracellular matrix (ECM) materials are currently utilized for soft tissue repair applications such as vascular grafts, tendon reconstruction, and hernia repair. These materials are derived from tissues such as human dermis and porcine small intestine submucosa, which must be rendered acellular to prevent disease transmission and decrease the risk of an immune response. The ideal decellularization technique removes cells and cellular remnants, but leaves the original collagen architecture intact. The tissue utilized in this study was the central tendon of the porcine diaphragm, which had not been previously investigated for soft tissue repair. Several treatments were investigated during this study including peracetic acid, TritonX-100, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and tri(n-butyl) phosphate (TnBP). Of the decellularization treatments investigated, only 1% TnBP was effective in removing cell nuclei while leaving the structure and composition of the tissue intact. Overall, the resulting acellular tissue scaffold retained the ECM composition, strength, resistance to enzymatic degradation, and biocompatibility of the original tissue, making 1% TnBP an acceptable decellularization treatment for porcine diaphragm tendon., (Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Hernia repair with prosthetic mesh significantly decreases the rate of recurrence compared with traditional, primary suture repair by reducing the tension on the edges of the wound. However, there are several complications associated with the use of mesh that may be due to the chronic inflammatory reaction to the mesh or a loss of compliance after degradation of the material. Mesh contraction and migration can also occur, sometimes resulting in a recurrent hernia. Based on the chemical structure of the polypropylene mesh material and the physiological conditions to which it is subjected, it is possible that oxidation is responsible for these changes in material properties. Oxidation would result in surface cracking, decreased melting temperature, loss of mass, and reduced compliance of the material. The objective of this study was to identify physiochemical changes in the surface and bulk properties of explanted polypropylene hernia meshes compared to pristine polypropylene mesh materials. Several characterization techniques were utilized, including scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and compliance testing. Overall, the results supported our hypothesis that oxidation is involved with the degradation of polypropylene hernia mesh materials.