title: Morphological evaluation of bioartificial hydrogels as potential tissue engineering scaffolds.
abstract: Poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels prepared by freeze-thawing procedure represent synthetic systems widely investigated as non-biodegradable scaffolds for tissue regeneration. In order to improve the biocompatibility properties of pure poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels, blends of PVA with different biological macromolecules, such hyaluronic acid, dextran, and gelatin were prepared and used to produce "bioartificial hydrogels". The porosity characteristics of these hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The morphology of bioartificial hydrogels was evaluated and compared with that of pure PVA hydrogels. In particular the effect exerted by each biological component on pore size and distribution was investigated. The obtained results indicate that when a natural macromolecule is added to PVA the internal structure of the material changes. A small amount of biopolymer induces the structural elements of PVA matrix to take on a well evident lamellar appearance and an apparent preferential orientation. Comparing the results of SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry it was concluded that hydrogels containing 20% of biological component have the most regular structure and at the same time the lowest total porosity. On the contrary samples with the highest content of natural polymer (40%) show the less regular structure and the highest total porosity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126, Pisa, Italy. mg.cascone@ing.unipi.it
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cascone
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lazzeri
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sparvoli
authors.forename: Manuele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scatena
authors.forename: Lorenzo Pio
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Serino
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danti
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol