Effects of Hydrolytic Degradation on In Vitro Biocompatibility of Poly (d,l-lactic)

Published

May 20, 2003

Author(s)

S Yoneda, William F. Guthrie, D S. Bright, C A. Khatri, F W. Wang

Abstract

In order to investigate the effects of hydrolytic degradation on the biocompatibility of poly(d,l-lactic acid) [P(d,l-LA)], the initial attachment of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells on various degraded P(d,l-LA) disks was assessed. MC3T3-E1 cells were seeded on P(d,l-LA) disks (10 mm in diameter and 1.65 mm in thickness) that had been degraded by immersion in a hydrolyzing medium for (0 to 4) weeks. The cell-spread area was measured with a fluorescence microscope after staining the plasma membrane with a fluorescent dye. The focal adhesion of the cells was also investigated by immunofluorescence staining of vinculin. The cell spread area of cells on P(d,l-LA) disks that were not degraded did not differ significantly from that of cells on tissue-culture polystyrene, but the degradation of P(d,l-LA) disks affected cell spreading. The cell spread area decreased linearly with the degradation time of the disks at a rate of (-741 ¿ 307) mm2/week (all uncertainties quoted are expanded uncertainties at the 95%confidence level). Compared with the cells on non-degraded P(d,l-LA) disks, cells on P(d,l-LA) disks that had been degraded for 4 weeks also showed irregular morphology. Focal adhesion began to disappear for cells on P(d,l-LA) disks degraded for 1 week. The number of live cells [up to (2.099 ¿ 0.268) cells/mm2 in log10 units, depending on the measurement location within the samples] on P(d,l-LA) disks also decreased linearly with the degradation time of the disks at a rate of up to (-0.175 ¿ 0.064) (cells/mm2)/week in log10 units, again depending on the measurement location within the samples. Mitochondrial activity as measured by the WST-1 assay also significantly decreased with the degradation time of the P(d,l-LA) disks. These results indicate that degraded P(d,l-LA) is less biocompatible than non-degraded P(d,l-LA), and focal adhesion is a more sensitive monitor of the biocompatibility of degraded P(d,l-LA) than cell spread area.

Citation

Journal of Materials Science

Pub Type

Journals

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Citation

Yoneda, S. , Guthrie, W. , Bright, D. , Khatri, C. and Wang, F. (2003), Effects of Hydrolytic Degradation on In Vitro Biocompatibility of Poly (d,l-lactic), Journal of Materials Science, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=50810 (Accessed October 20, 2025)