Drug Loading of Sutures by Supercritical CO2 Impregnation: Effect of Polymer/Drug Interactions and Thermal Transitions

• Published in: Macromolecular materials and engineering Vol. 300; no. 6; pp. 596 - 610
• Main Authors: Champeau, Mathilde, Thomassin, Jean-Michel, Tassaing, Thierry, Jerome, Christine
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2015; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: anti-inflammatory drugs; biomaterial; Chemistry; Chimie; drug loading; Engineering, computing & technology; implant; impregnation; Ingénierie, informatique & technologie; Materials science & engineering; mechanical properties; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; polymer sutures; Science des matériaux & ingénierie; supercritical carbon dioxide
• ISSN: 1438-7492; 1439-2054; 1439-2054
• DOI: 10.1002/mame.201400369

This paper aims at exploring the scCO2 impregnation of three commonly implanted polymer sutures made of poly‐l‐lactide (PLLA), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and polypropylene (PP) with two anti‐inflammatory drugs namely ketoprofen and aspirin. For all the investigated polymer/drug systems, the drug loading increases with temperature and pressure. It appears that two main criteria must be fulfilled by the polymer to achieve high drug loading: (i) a good affinity between the polymer and the drug and (ii) a high chain mobility to favor the diffusion of the drug into the matrix. As the investigated PLLA fulfills these two requirements, drug loading up to 32.5% with ketoprofen and 8.1% with aspirin has been achieved. Three sutures made of poly(l‐lactide) (PLLA), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and polypropylene (PP) are impregnated by supercritical CO2 impregnation with two anti‐inflammatory drugs to create drug delivery sutures. Drug loading increases with pressure and temperature. Two main criteria must be fulfilled by the polymer to achieve high drug loading: A good affinity with the drug and high chain mobility. The tensile properties of impregnated fibers are suitable.