In vitro release kinetics of bovine serum albumin from highly swellable dextran hydrogels

Hydrogels synthesized from a polysaccharide‐based polymer, dextran, in the presence of two crosslinking agents, N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide and epichlorohydrin, were evaluated for the oral colon‐specific delivery of polypeptide drugs. These novel dextran hydrogels had significantly greater swelling ratios than recently developed dextran hydrogels. A model protein, bovine serum albumin, was loaded into 50% (by weight) crosslinker‐containing dextran hydrogels in two ways: during the crosslinking reaction and by a soaking method. The loading capacity was varied between 22 and 25 mg/g of dry gel, depending on the loading procedure. In vitro release experiments were performed with a simulated gastrointestinal system in the presence and absence of dextranase. The diffusion exponents were calculated by means of a semiempirical power‐law equation for the release of protein from swellable hydrogel discs. Bovine serum albumin was mainly released by Fickian diffusion, and this indicated that its hydrodynamic diameter (7.7 nm) was smaller than the hydrogel mesh size (～19 nm). The release of bovine serum albumin from both hydrogel types was substantially higher than expected, especially in the presence of dextranase, and this was attributed to the high swellability of the hydrogels. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Insoluble poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous coating materials: effects of crosslinking conditions on the matrix stability

In this study, the effect of crosslinking conditions was investigated to obtain insoluble poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofiber mats having an ultraviolet (UV) initiating and crosslinking agent, pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA), with various ratios in the presence or absence of UV irradiation at 366 nm. At first, PEO nanofibers were electrospun from 400,000 and 600,000 g/mole molecular weights of PEO and they were compared in terms of diameter and fiber morphology. Whereas applied voltage in the range of 10–25 kV had no significant effect on the fiber morphology, fiber diameters varied by voltage. An increase in the flow rate from 0.25 to 1.00 mL h^?1 had an effect in favor of fabricating thicker fibers. The effect of distance to collector on the diameter and morphology was not distinctive. Fibers having irregular morphology and beads appeared with increasing the polymer concentration from 4 to 8 % w/v. Prior crosslinking, electrospinning process at selected conditions was applied to the PEO (600,000) including PETA and PEO-PETA nanofibers were obtained. Besides PETA concentration and UV application, drying conditions before UV irradiation were also found effective to obtain stable fibers in aqueous media. PEO nanofibers electrospun in the presence of 10 % PETA (w/w), dried for 8 days at 37 °C in an air atmosphere and then, irradiated with UV for 50 min were found most stable in aqueous media. However, crosslinking was also achieved in the absence of UV.

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A comparative study on monomer elution and cytotoxicity of different adhesive restoration materials

This study evaluated monomer release and cytotoxicity of different adhesive restoration materials used for dental restorations. The extracts (1, 2, and 7 days) of three types of adhesive dental restoration materials, [Quixfill (QF), Silorane Restorative (SR), and Ketac N 100 Restorative (KR)], and the adhesive resins, [XP Bond (XP), Silorane Primer (SP), Ketac N 100 Primer (KP), and Silorane Bond (SB)] were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The cytotoxicity levels were determined at different time points (24, 48, and 72 h) of cell culture using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. All adhesive resin materials showed monomer release at varying amounts with the highest release after 7 days. The lowest amount of release was observed in QF and the highest with KP. Bis-Phenol A (BPA) was not detected in SP and KR that contain bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether dimethacrylate (bis-GMA). Decamethylpenthasiloxane (D5) was not eluted from SR. Except for SR and QF, all other adhesive restoration materials showed different degrees of toxicity along with different monomer release kinetics. The correlation between the monomer release and cytotoxicity of the materials indicated that the cytotoxicity of the materials increased with the monomer release (Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient – r). The correlation after 48 h was statistically significant (r = ?0.342, p = 0.017).     

In vitro characterization of chitosan scaffolds: influence of composition and deacetylation degree

In this study, the influence of degree of deacetylation (DD) and composition on some structural and biological properties of chitosan scaffolds were examined in vitro. 3D chitosan scaffolds of 2% (w/v) and 3% (w/v) composition in different DDs i.e. 75–85% and >85% were prepared by freeze-drying method at −80 °C. We noticed that >85% deacetylated chitosan scaffolds of 2% (w/v) composition has a highly interconnected morphological structure having ∼100 μm pore size with 0.0917 N/mm² compression modulus. L929 fibroblastic cells were cultured on chitosan scaffolds in order to evaluate their biocompatibilities. Cell culture studies demonstrated that fibroblastic cell attachment and proliferation is affected by DD. The higher deacetylated chitosan scaffolds strongly supported the attachment and proliferation when compared with the lower deacetylated scaffolds. MTT assay indicated that >85% deacetylated chitosan scaffolds of 2% (w/v) composition, having the highest specific growth rate 0.017 h⁻¹ of all, was found to be the most suitable for cell culture studies and a potential candidate for tissue engineering with enhanced biostability and good biocompatibility.