Plasma surface modification of polylactic acid to promote interaction with fibroblasts

Abstract

In this work, medium pressure plasma treatment of polylactic acid (PLA) is investigated. PLA is a biocompatible aliphatic polymer, which can be used for bone fixation devices and tissue engineering scaffolds. Due to inadequate surface properties, cell adhesion and proliferation are far less than optimal and a surface modification is required for most biomedical applications. By using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating at medium pressure in different atmospheres, the surface properties of a PLA foil are modified. After plasma treatment, water contact angle measurements showed an increased hydrophilic character of the foil surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed an increased oxygen content. Cell culture tests showed that plasma modification of PLA films increased the initial cell attachment both quantitatively and qualitatively. After 1 day, cells on plasma-treated PLA showed a superior cell morphology in comparison with unmodified PLA samples. However, after 7 days of culture, no significant differences were observed between untreated and plasma-modified PLA samples. While plasma treatment improves the initial cell attachment, it does not seem to influence cell proliferation. It has also been observed that the difference between the 3 discharge gases is negligible when looking at the improved cell-material interactions. From economical point of view, plasma treatments in air are thus the best choice.

Vitamin E acetate addition to poly(d,l)lactic acid modifies its mechanical behavior without affecting biocompatibility

“…3,4 In fact, PLA was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as far back as in the 1970s and is primarily used for biomedical applications such as absorbable sutures, stents, drug delivery systems, bone fixation devices, and tissue engineering scaffolds. [4][5][6][7] As lactide is an enantiomeric compound, the general name PLA refers to three possible isoforms, namely poly (L-lactide) (PLLA), poly (D-lactide) (PDLA), and poly (D,L-lactide) (PDLLA), which are chemically identical, but differ in their crystallinity. PLLA is a semicrystalline polymer characterized by high tensile strength, low elongation, and consequently high Young's modulus value, making it suitable for orthopedic applications and sutures.…”

Development and Characterization of Photoinduced Acrylamide-Grafted Polylactide Films for Biomedical Applications

“…The presence of this signal ultimately indicates the success of the photografting reaction. Figure 5(c) shows 3 bands associated with -C/ -H, -O, and O-=O components, in the C1s region [10]. The relative intensity of the -C/ -H component increases as a result from the grafting reaction, while those of the other 2 bands of -O, O-=O components decrease.…”

“…To improve surface adhesion properties of polymeric materials, irradiation and grafting techniques have been reported [5,6], such as electrical discharge [7], ozonation and grafting [8], plasma treatments and surface grafting [9,10], and also grafting through microwave [11] and UV irradiation [12]. These covalent grafting processes are very attractive as new desirable functional of different types can be introduced onto the polymer surfaces to change surface morphology, adhesiveness, and biocompatibility.…”

‘Reliability of new poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) membranes treated with oxygen plasma plus silicon dioxide layers for pre-prosthetic guided bone regeneration processes’

“…Although these polymers are hydrophobic (3), which decreases their mechanical resistance, facilitates the release of acid residues, diminishes the pH, and favours the bacterial proliferation and inflammatory responses; the functionalisation of their surfaces with cold plasma may fairly overcome these drawbacks (2,7). On the one hand, the use of cold plasmas may improve the surface roughness of PLGA membranes, which may stimulate the adhesion of osteogenic mediators and cells, thus accelerating the biodegradation of the barriers (2,7,8). On the other hand, the incorporation of thin layers, such as metallic oxides, may optimise the osteoinductive capacity of these membranes.…”