Agarose Gel as Biomaterial or Scaffold for Implantation Surgery: Characterization, Histological and Histomorphometric Study on Soft Tissue Response

Maxillofacial, orthopedic, oral, and plastic surgery require materials for tissue augmentation, guided regeneration, and tissue engineering approaches. In this study, the aim was to develop and characterize a new extrudable hydrogel, based on agarose gel (AG; 1.5% wt) and to evaluate the local effec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Connective tissue research 2012-12, Vol.53 (6), p.548-554
Main Authors: Varoni, Elena, Tschon, Matilde, Palazzo, Barbara, Nitti, Paola, Martini, Lucia, Rimondini, Lia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorbable Implants
Animals
biocompatibility
histocompatibility
histomorphometry
Hydrogels - chemistry
Hydrogels - pharmacology
injectable biomaterial/scaffold
Male
Materials Testing - methods
polysaccharide gel
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Sepharose - chemistry
Sepharose - pharmacology
Tissue Engineering - methods
Tissue Scaffolds
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Maxillofacial, orthopedic, oral, and plastic surgery require materials for tissue augmentation, guided regeneration, and tissue engineering approaches. In this study, the aim was to develop and characterize a new extrudable hydrogel, based on agarose gel (AG; 1.5% wt) and to evaluate the local effects after subcutaneous implantation in comparison with collagen and hyaluronic acid. AG chemical-physical properties were ascertained through Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and rheological analysis. In vivo subcutaneous implants were performed, and histological and histomorphometric evaluations were done at 1, 4, 12, and 16 weeks. FT-IR confirmed that spectroscopic properties were the same for the baseline agarose and rheological characterization established that AG is a weak hydrogel. Subcutaneous AG implants induced new vessels and fibrous tissue formation rich in neutrophils; the capsule thickness around AG increased until the 12th week but remained thinner than those around hyaluronic acid and collagen. At 16 weeks, the thickness of the capsule significantly decreased around all materials. This study confirmed that 1.5% wt AG possesses some of the most important features of the ideal biocompatible material: safety, effectiveness, costless, and easily obtained with specific chemical and geometrical characters; the AG can represent a finely controllable and biodegradable polymeric system for cells and drug delivery applications.
ISSN:0300-8207
1607-8438
DOI:10.3109/03008207.2012.712583