Hydrophilic, Porous, Fiber‐Reinforced Collagen‐Based Membrane for Corneal Repair

• Published in: Macromolecular bioscience Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. e2300449 - n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Zhi‐Biao, Liu, Jia, Xu, Ying‐Ni, Sun, Xiao‐Min, Peng, Yue‐Hai, Zhao, Qi, Lin, Yong‐An, Huang, Yong‐Rui, Ren, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - pharmacology; Biodegradation; Collagen; Collagen - chemistry; Composite structures; Cornea; corneal repair material; Corneal transplantation; Defects; Elasticity; fiber reinforcement; Hydrophilicity; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Materials Testing; Mechanical properties; Mechanical tests; Membranes; Membranes, Artificial; Modulus of elasticity; Polycaprolactone; Polyesters - chemistry; Polymers; Porosity; Rabbits; Reconstruction; Retention; stable structure; Sutures; Tensile Strength; collagen; fiber reinforcement; stable structure; corneal repair material; polycaprolactone
• ISSN: 1616-5187; 1616-5195
• DOI: 10.1002/mabi.202300449

Collagen membrane with outstanding biocompatibility exhibits immense potential in the field of corneal repair and reconstruction, but the poor mechanical properties limit its clinical application. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polymer widely explored for application in corneal reconstruction due to its excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, easy processability, and flexibility. In this study, a PCL/collagen composite membrane with reinforced mechanical properties is developed. The membrane has a strong composite structure with collagen by utilizing a porous and hydrophilic PCL scaffold, maintaining its integrity even after immersion. The suture retention and mechanical tests demonstrate that compared with the pure collagen membrane, the prepared membrane has a greater tensile strength and twice the modulus of elasticity. Further, the suture retention strength is improved by almost two times. In addition, the membrane remains fully intact on the implant bed in an in vitro corneal defect model. Moreover, the membrane can be tightly sutured to a rabbit corneal defect, progressively achieve epithelialization, and remain unchanged during observation. Overall, the PCL/collagen composite membrane is a promising candidate as a suturable corneal restoration material in clinical keratoplasty. In this study, structurallystable polycaprolactone (PCL) and collagen (Col) composite membranes (PCL/Col)are prepared using hydrophilic porous polycaprolactone fiber scaffolds andcollagen. Among them, SX‐PCL/Col membrane demonstrates the strongest mechanicalproperties. Further, curved SX‐PCL/Col composite membrane are prepared. Themembrane can be seamlessly sutured to the corneal defect with no gap, providinga reliable suture‐resistant strategy for clinical keratoplasty.