Hyaluronic Acid-Pluronic®F127-Laden Soft Contact Lenses for Corneal Epithelial Healing: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is widely used to treat various ocular diseases like dry eye syndrome, keratoconus, and other corneal epithelial injuries. The currently available eye drop solutions need frequent doses affecting the routine life style of patients. In this work, the silicone contact lens was designed to entrap HA and Pluronic®F127 to improve the wettability of the contact lens to treat various ocular diseases. The soaking method (HA-SM) was compared with the direct entrapment (DL-HA-PI) technique. The HA-Pluronic®F127-laden contact lenses (DL-HA-PI) showed acceptable optical transmittance with improved swelling (water content) properties. The in vitro release data showed high burst release with HA-SM contact lenses (12-36 h), while DL-HA-PI contact lenses showed prolong release up to 96 h. The in vivo release in the rabbit tear fluid showed high HA concentration (tear fluid) with DL-HA-PI contact lenses in comparison to the HA-SM contact lenses. The DL-HA-PI-3 batch with Pluronic®F127 showed more promising results in schirmer strip study in comparison to DL-HA-3 batch (without Pluronic®F127). The presence of Pluronic®F127 with HA showed high potential to improve hydration property of the contact lens. The corneal healing model showed reduction in the ocular inflammatory symptoms with DL-HA-PI-3 batch, thus demonstrating the potential of HA and Pluronic®F127 to be used in various ocular diseases.

[Design and application of a new type of oral humidifier].

Oral feeding of water cannot be accomplished in some critical patients due to coma, mouth-breathing or long-term indwelling of gastric tube, causing dry mouth which results in oral pain, ulcer, or infection, aggravating patients' discomfort and even affecting the prognosis. To solve this problem, the medical staff of the First Hospital of Jiaxing developed a novel oral humidifier and obtained the National Utility Model Patent of China (ZL 2019 2 0066979.0). The oral humidifier consists of a spraying device and a fixation device. The spraying device is a spraying housing with a water tank, and a spraying port where nanometer water mist can be emitted. The spraying housing is also equipped with a flashlight with a switch, and a schematic diagram of pupil size, which can be used to assess the pupil size conveniently. The fixing device is composed of a fixing frame, an adjustable rod and a clamp. The two ends of the adjustable rod are connected to the fixing frame and the clamp respectively, and can be adjusted to proper shape. The spraying housing can be placed on the fixing frame and installed on the bed and adjusted to the proper position quickly. This novel oral humidifier is a simple device which combines a spraying system with a pupil evaluation tool, implying significant clinical application in improving the convenience of nursing and alleviating dry mouth of critical patients.

Synthesis and properties of a bio-based epoxy resin with high epoxy value and low viscosity.

A bio-based epoxy resin (denoted TEIA) with high epoxy value (1.16) and low viscosity (0.92 Pa s, 258C) was synthesized from itaconic acid and its chemical structure was confirmed by 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Its curing reaction with poly(propylene glycol) bis(2-aminopropyl ether) (D230) and methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) was investigated. For comparison, the commonly used diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) was also cured with the same curing agents. The results demonstrated that TEIA showed higher curing reactivity towards D230/MHHPA and lower viscosity compared with DGEBA, resulting in the better processability. Owing to its high epoxy value and unique structure, comparable or better glass transition temperature as well as mechanical properties could be obtained for the TEIA-based network relative to the DGEBA-based network. The results indicated that itaconic acid is a promising renewable feedstock for the synthesis of bio-based epoxy resin with high performance.

Crosslinking of poly(L-lactide) nanofibers with triallyl isocyanutrate by gamma-irradiation for tissue engineering application.

The radiation crosslinked poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) electrospun nanofibers have been developed with improved thermal stability and mechanical properties. Trially isocyanurate (TAIC) were added into PLLA solution at different weight ratios (1, 3, and 5%) and electrospun into nanofibrous mats, the mats were then irradiated by gamma ray at different radiation doses (5, 10, and 25 kGy) to crosslink the PLLA chains. Their surface morphology, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and biodegradation properties were investigated and compared before and after gamma irradiation. Furthermore, the in vitro biocompatibilities were also evaluated by using mouse L929 fibroblasts. The results indicated that the efficient crosslinking networks can be generated when the TAIC content is higher than 3%. The thermal stability and tensile mechanical properties were significantly increased at higher irradiation dose of 10 and 25 kGy. However, radiation dose at 25 kGy have an adverse effect on the thermal stability of crosslinked samples due to thermal degradation induced by irradiation, the crosslinked samples irradiated at 10 kGy exhibited the best enzymatic degradation. The in vitro results also revealed that the crosslinked PLLA/TAIC composite nanofibers did not induce cytotoxic effects and are suitable for cell growth. Therefore, the crosslinked PLLA nanofibers are one of the promising materials for future tissue engineering applications.

Fabrication of fibrinogen/P(LLA-CL) hybrid nanofibrous scaffold for potential soft tissue engineering applications.

Coelectrospinning of native proteins and elastic synthetic polymers is an attractive technique to fabricate hybrid fibrous scaffolds that combine the bioactivity and mechanical features of each material component. In this study, hybrid fibrous scaffolds composed of synthetic P(LLA-CL) elastomeric and naturally derived fibrinogen protein were fabricated and characterized for their bioactive and physiochemical properties. Fiber diameters of hybrid scaffolds increased with increasing P(LLA-CL) content, and the shape of fibers changed from cylindrical shape on pure polymer scaffolds to flat structure on hybrid scaffolds. Characterizations of ATR-FTIR, XRD, and thermal properties indicated that the hybrid scaffolds contain two different phases, one composed of pure fibrinogen and the other corresponding to a mixture of fibrinogen and P(LLA-CL), and no obvious chemical reaction takes place between two components. The hybrid fibrous scaffolds showed tailorable degradation rates than pure P(LLA-CL) and higher mechanical properties than pure fibrinogen, and both tensile strength and breaking strain increased with increasing P(LLA-CL) content. In Vitro studies revealed that L929 cells on hybrid scaffolds achieved relatively higher level of cell attachment after 12 h of culture and significant increased cell proliferation rate after 7 days of culture, when compared with pure fibrinogen and P(LLA-CL) scaffolds, and the cells exhibited a spreading polygonal shape on the hybrid fibrous surfaces compared to a round shape on surfaces of pure polymer scaffolds. Therefore, the fibrinogen/P(LLA-CL) hybrid fibrous scaffolds possess the combined benefits of each individual component, which make it capable as scaffolds for soft tissue reconstruction.

Fabrication of gelatin-hyaluronic acid hybrid scaffolds with tunable porous structures for soft tissue engineering.

The development of three-dimensional (3-D) scaffolds with highly open porous structure is one of the most important issues in tissue engineering. In this study, 3-D macroporous gelatin/hyaluronic acid (GE/HA) hybrid scaffolds with varying porous morphology were prepared by freeze-drying their blending solutions and subsequent chemical crosslinking by using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC). The resulting scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Their swelling, in vitro degradation properties and compressive strength were also investigated. To evaluate in vitro cytocompatibility of scaffolds, mouse L929 fibroblasts were seeded onto the scaffolds for cell morphology and cell viability studies. It was found that the porous structure of scaffolds can be tailored by varying the ratios of gelatin to HA, both the swelling ratios and degradation rate increased with the increase of HA content in hybrid scaffolds, and crosslinking the scaffolds with EDC improved the degradation resistance of the scaffold in culture media and increased the mechanical strength of scaffolds. The in vitro results revealed that the prepared scaffolds do not induce cytotoxic effects and suitable for cell growth, especially in the case of scaffolds with higher gelatin content. The combined results of the physicochemical and biological studies suggested that the developed GE/HA hybrid scaffolds exhibit good potential and biocompatibility for soft tissue engineering applications.