FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF CHITOSAN MEMBRANES FOR GUIDED TISSUE REGENERATION

Abstract

Chitosan membranes were prepared by a thermal induced phase separation method, following treatment with nontoxic NaOH gelating and Na5P3O10, Na5SO3 crosslinking agents. Effects of these reaction agents on chitosan membranes were evaluated to survey the feasibility of using these membranes in guided tissue regeneration (GTR) application. The preliminary results showed chitosan membranes crosslinked with Na5P3O10 and Na2SO3 had gel content of 53.5% and 52.2%r, respectively. Contrarily, the chitosan matrix gelated with NaOH dissolved completely during gel content measurement. Chitosan membrane treated with Na5P3O10 had lowest elastic modulus of 12.9 Mpa as compared with other membranes treated with Na2SO3 (17.9Mpa) and NaOH(23.6Mpa). From SEM observations, NaOH gelated chitosan membrane had the smoothest surface morphology than others. However, Na5P3O10 crosslinked chitosan membrane had better cell adhesion and proliferation results in cell culture test. All three chitosan membranes degraded by about 23%∼28% of initial weight after a 90-day in vitro shaking test.