title: Plasma surface modification of polylactic acid to promote interaction with fibroblasts.
abstract: In this work, medium pressure plasma treatment of polylactic acid (PLA) is investigated. PLA is a biocompatible aliphatic polymer, which can be used for bone fixation devices and tissue engineering scaffolds. Due to inadequate surface properties, cell adhesion and proliferation are far less than optimal and a surface modification is required for most biomedical applications. By using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating at medium pressure in different atmospheres, the surface properties of a PLA foil are modified. After plasma treatment, water contact angle measurements showed an increased hydrophilic character of the foil surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed an increased oxygen content. Cell culture tests showed that plasma modification of PLA films increased the initial cell attachment both quantitatively and qualitatively. After 1 day, cells on plasma-treated PLA showed a superior cell morphology in comparison with unmodified PLA samples. However, after 7 days of culture, no significant differences were observed between untreated and plasma-modified PLA samples. While plasma treatment improves the initial cell attachment, it does not seem to influence cell proliferation. It has also been observed that the difference between the 3 discharge gases is negligible when looking at the improved cell-material interactions. From economical point of view, plasma treatments in air are thus the best choice.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tinneke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Declercq
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Geyter
authors.forename: Ria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dubruel
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leys
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beaurain
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Payen
authors.forename: Rino
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morent
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008422:Materials Testing; D008954:Models, Biological; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D058626:Plasma Gases; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000187:drug effects; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide)