Prevention of postoperative adhesions by biodegradable cryogels from pectin and chitosan polysaccharides

Abstract

The main complication that may arise after surgery is the formation of adhesions. The current trend in the prevention of postoperative adhesions is the application of anti-adhesive barrier materials for the separation of wound tissue during the critical period of mesothelial repair and healing. In this work, cryogels based on pectin and chitosan were obtained by the ionic cryotropic gelation method. It was found that the Heracleum L. pectin cryogels are more elastic (73 ± 6 kPa) than the apple pectin cryogels (29 ± 11 kPa). The addition of chitosan with different physical and chemical characteristics did not significantly affect the elasticity of pectin–chitosan cryogels. The greatest swelling ability was achieved during in vivo incubation of Heracleum L. pectin cryogels and Heracleum L. pectin with reacetylated chitosan cryogels (17.1 ± 1.6 and 14.2 ± 2.0 g/g, respectively). It was found that the complete biodegradation of apple pectin cryogels occurred within 24 h of incubation in the rat abdominal cavity. Heracleum L. pectin cryogels were encapsulated in a fibrous capsule and detected in the abdominal cavity after 168 h. Maximum anti-adhesion effect was observed through the use of apple pectin cryogels (0 ± 0.5 score). Significant anti-adhesive effect was also observed through the use of apple pectin–reacetylated chitosan cryogels (1 ± 0.5 score). Due to the high anti-adhesive activity, such cryogels can be recommended for the development of a new barrier material for use in surgery. The potential anti-adhesive mechanism of apple pectin cryogels which may be attributed to a combination of barrier function and bioactivity of cryogels components was discussed.

Characterization and evaluation of a novel O-carboxymethyl chitosan films with Mimosa tenuiflora extract for skin regeneration and wound healing

“…Chitosan has been widely used in a variety of biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and manufacturing of wound dressing due to its excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. 1,2 In general, chitosan has important biological properties such as biocompatibility, antifungal and antibacterial activity, wound healing ability, anticancerous properties, immunoenhancing effect, and tissue regeneration. 3 It has been shown that the antibacterial activity of chitosan is due to the presence of amine functions in its chains.…”

Barrier materials for prevention of surgical adhesions: systematic review

“…Twelve barriers in the group were identified with successful animal studies 102 , 123–136 ; however, only Dextran 70 progressed to have a single successful human study ( de novo and laparoscopic surgery). Each of the 12 barriers reported were easy to apply 102 , 117 , 124 , 126 , 132 , 136 ; however, safety, cost-effectiveness, and levels of postoperative pain remain unknown for each barrier.…”

Design and Assessment of Biodegradable Macroporous Cryogels as Advanced Tissue Engineering and Drug Carrying Materials

“…Alginate cryogel cross-linked with Ca 2+ [19] Ionic cryotropic gelation of pectin-chitosan [20] Freezing-thawing cycle PVA-gelatin cryogel; hydrogen bonding, formation of crystallites of PVA [21] Agarose cryogel, intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonding [22] Chitosan cryogel, formation of crystallites composed of D-glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine units [23,24] Chemical cross-linking Reaction between the functional groups of polymer and cross-linker or polymer-polymer Condensation of an amine with the carbonyl group, formation of Schiff bases; chitosan and gelatin cross-linked with glutaraldehyde.…”

“…Owing to their high anti-adhesive properties and biocompatibility, AP cryogels have been proposed for the development of a barrier material for use in surgery [ 93 ]. Chitosan/pectin cryogels were produced [ 20 , 80 , 93 ]. The cryogels were formed by both electrostatic polyelectrolyte interactions between pectin and chitosan and cross-linking of chitosan with GA [ 80 ].…”