Abstract
The absorbable polyacid, poly (L-Lactide) (PLLA) is one of the most commonly used and studied materials in tissue engineering, for its biocompatibility and biodegradability. This work will show that the PLLA synthesized at our laboratory has the same biocompatibility as the PLDL Purac®. The PLLA was synthesized through ring- opening polymerization and manufactured into nanofibers through the electrospinning process. The cytotoxicity of the material was evaluated by the calorimetric MTT assay (Sigma), Live/Dead (Molecular Probes), Direct Contact, Elution and Agar Diffusion.The assays were performed using nanofibers membranes made with PLLA and with PLDL Purac®, where the biomaterials were in contact with the fibroblast cell culture, in the sense to compare the results between them. For the MTT, Live/Dead and Elution assays the nanofiber membranes were incubated with the fibroblast cell culture for 24h, 48h and 72h. For the Direct Contact and Agar Diffusion the nanofiber membranes were maintained in contact with the cells for 24h. For the assay controls we used DMEM-LG containing 0.5% phenol as the positive control of toxicity CT(+) and for negative control of toxicity CT(-) DMEM-LG containing 10% FBS. The ANOVA test was used to measure the MTT assay results, and within 24h of exposure, the cells in contact with the PLLA showed a higher proliferation rate than CT(-) and PLDL Purac®, being significantly different (p< 0,05). Whatsoever, there were no statistically significant differences between the PLLA, the PLDL Purac®, and the CT(-) after 48h and 72h of culture (p>0.05). The morphology of the cells in contact with both biomaterials was also considered normal, showing no signal of cytotoxicity. The high rates of proliferation and viability of the cells in contact with the PLLA, shown by the biocompatibility assays, demonstrate that the PLLA is a biocompatible material. The PLDL Purac® exhibited similar results, as expected. Those findings show that the PLLA synthesized has the same biocompatibility as the PLDL Purac®. Thus, the PLLA synthesized in our laboratory is a high quality biomaterial that can assist in the manufacturing of nanofibers that can be adapted for different biomedical applications.
