Incorporation of Fibrin Matrix into Electrospun Membranes for Periodontal Wound Healing

Abstract

Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) aims to regenerate the lost attachment apparatus caused by periodontal disease through the use of a membrane. The goal of this study is to create and characterize a novel hybrid membrane that contains biologically active fibrin matrix within a synthetic polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun membrane. Three-dimensional fibrin matrices and fibrin-incorporated electrospun membrane were created from fresh frozen plasma by centrifugation in glass vials under three different conditions: 400 g for 12 min, 1450 g for 15 min and 3000 g for 60 min. Half the membranes were crosslinked with 1% genipin. Degradation against trypsin indicated biologic stability while uniaxial tensile testing characterized mechanical properties. Continuous data was analyzed by ANOVA to detect differences between groups (p = 0.05). Fibrin-incorporated electrospun membranes showed statistically significant increase in mechanical properties (elastic modulus, strain at break and energy to break) compared to fibrin matrices. While crosslinking had marginal effects on mechanical properties, it did significantly increase biologic stability against trypsin (p < 0.0001). Lastly, membranes generated at 400 g and 1450 g were superior in mechanical properties and biologic stability compared to those generated at 3000 g. Fibrin-incorporated, crosslinked electrospun PCL membranes generated at lower centrifugation forces offers a novel strategy to generate a potentially superior membrane for GTR procedures.

Differential Biodegradation Kinetics of Collagen Membranes for Bone Regeneration

“…A collagenase concentration of 2 IU/mL in 50 mM Tris HCl (pH 7.4) containing 10 mM CaCl 2 was used [ 15 , 16 ]. After each 48 h, degradation solutions were removed carefully through suction and renewed [ 2 ]. After each immersion time point (4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 16 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d), samples were dried by placing them into a vacuum chamber at 37 °C for 72 h. Next, the weight and thickness of the dried samples were measured.…”

“…Chronic periodontitis is one of the most aggressive pathologies and it refers to the inflammation and progressive destruction of the supporting tissues of the periodontium resulting in loss of the teeth and the alveolar bone. Restoration of the lost periodontium is a paramount goal of periodontal therapy [ 2 ], where the guide bone regeneration (GBR) concept plays a capital roll. GBR is a surgical procedure that uses membranes as barriers to prevent the ingrowth of fibroblasts and to maintain a space for osteogenesis.…”

“…An ideal barrier for GBR should resorb gradually over time [ 9 ]. Although the biodegradable nature of biological membranes eliminates the need for surgical membrane retrieval, these collagen membranes present limitations in terms of controlling degradation [ 2 ]. It has been suggested that these membranes must stay physically and mechanically intact for at least 4–6 weeks for regenerative therapy to be successful [ 2 ].…”

“…Although the biodegradable nature of biological membranes eliminates the need for surgical membrane retrieval, these collagen membranes present limitations in terms of controlling degradation [ 2 ]. It has been suggested that these membranes must stay physically and mechanically intact for at least 4–6 weeks for regenerative therapy to be successful [ 2 ]. Therefore, unsuitable degradation rates may significantly hamper the regenerative potential of currently available GBR membranes [ 14 ].…”

Testing active membranes for bone regeneration: A review

“…This section may only be applied to the resorbable membranes, and it is intended to find the average time that the biomaterial would remain with structural integrity. It has been previously described that in order to achieve a predictable GBR process, the membrane should remain physically and mechanically intact for at least an average time of 4-6 weeks [28][29][30][31]. This time period may vary depending on individual patients' conditions that negatively influence bone repair rates such as age, systemic and metabolic conditions or big defect size.…”