International Journal of Nanomedicine (May 2018)
Development and blood compatibility assessment of electrospun polyvinyl alcohol blended with metallocene polyethylene and plectranthus amboinicus (PVA/mPE/PA) for bone tissue engineering
Abstract
Jie Qi,1,* Huang Zhang,2,* Yingzhou Wang,3 Mohan Prasath Mani,4 Saravana Kumar Jaganathan5–7 1Department of Orthopedics, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, 2Department of Orthopedics, Han Zhong People’s Hospital, Han Zhong, Shaanxi Province, 3Beijing Meinuoyikang Health Food Co., Ltd, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; 5Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, 6Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 7IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia *These authors contributed equally to this work Introduction: Currently, the design of extracellular matrix (ECM) with nanoscale properties in bone tissue engineering is challenging. For bone tissue engineering, the ECM must have certain properties such as being nontoxic, highly porous, and should not cause foreign body reactions. Materials and methods: In this study, the hybrid scaffold based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blended with metallocene polyethylene (mPE) and plectranthus amboinicus (PA) was fabricated for bone tissue engineering via electrospinning. The fabricated hybrid nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), contact angle measurement, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Furthermore, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), and hemolytic assays were used to investigate the blood compatibility of the prepared hybrid nanocomposites. Results: The prepared hybrid nanocomposites showed reduced fiber diameter (238±45 nm) and also increased porosity (87%) with decreased pore diameter (340±86 nm) compared with pure PVA. The interactions between PVA, mPE, and PA were identified by the formation of the additional peaks as revealed in FTIR. Furthermore, the prepared hybrid nanocomposites showed a decreased contact angle of 51°±1.32° indicating a hydrophilic nature and exhibited lower thermal stability compared to pristine PVA. Moreover, the mechanical results revealed that the electrospun scaffold showed an improved tensile strength of 3.55±0.29 MPa compared with the pristine PVA (1.8±0.52 MPa). The prepared hybrid nanocomposites showed delayed blood clotting as noted in APTT and PT assays indicating better blood compatibility. Moreover, the hemolysis assay revealed that the hybrid nanocomposites exhibited a low hemolytic index of 0.6% compared with pure PVA, which was 1.6% suggesting the safety of the developed nanocomposite to red blood cells (RBCs). Conclusion: The prepared nanocomposites exhibited better physico-chemical properties, sufficient porosity, mechanical strength, and blood compatibility, which favors it as a valuable candidate in bone tissue engineering for repairing the bone defects. Keywords: scaffold, electrospinning, bone tissue engineering, physico-chemical characterization, blood compatibility
