Abstract:
The use of collagen in the biomedical device industry has led to
major advances in soft tissue repair. This is attributed largely to the
favourable biological and physiochemical properties of collagen.
Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering favoured the use of
this biomaterial and various commercial products have become
available in the past few decades. This study aims to develop a
collagen and chondroitin-6-sulphate dermal regeneration scaffold
with enhanced resistance against enzymatic degradation. Frozen
slurries (0.5% collagen) were dried under vacuum, coated with
silicone, crosslinked and then thoroughly rinsed. The scaffolds
were subjected to a range of quantitative and qualitative tests that
included: scanning electron microscopy analysis, collagenase
enzymatic degradation, and cytotoxicity assessment. Scaffold
resistance to enzymatic degradation was manipulated after
dehydrothermal treatment by employing combinations of
crosslinking agents, such as glutaraldehyde and/or carbodiimide,
with or without the presence of L-lysine. Results indicate that highly
porous (mean pore diameter of 87.3 μm), bioactive, non-cytotoxic
tissue engineering matrices were obtained. Enhanced stability of
these scaffolds was achieved through extensive crosslinking
and suggests the potential to prevent in vivo wound contraction
sufficiently.
