Biotecnología y Biomateriales

Abstracto

Semi-interpenetrated Hydrogels Composed of PVA and Hyaluronan or Chondroitin Sulphate: Chemico-Physical and Biological Characterization

Antonella D Agostino, Annalisa La Gatta, Teresa Busico, Mario De Rosa and Chiara Schiraldi

Physical hydrogels based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were synthesized in the presence of natural polysaccharides, either hyaluronan or Chondroitin sulphate, in order to obtain versatile biomaterials with enhanced performances. The physical network is obtained by the freeze thawing technique, a simple method widely used for structuring PVA blends. The chemico-physical characterization of resulting materials consisted of swelling studies and mechanical analysis. Furthermore the release of embedded polysaccharides from the network was evaluated to improve understanding of the strength of hydrogen bonding between the different polymeric chains, and the effect of the sulphate groups on the interaction promoting network formation and stability. Biological response in terms of cytotoxicity, adhesion and cell vitality of murine fibroblast and human keratinocytes showed that the addition of glycosaminoglycans to a PVA polymer leads to a biomaterial with potential applications in biomedical fields.