Abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a family of natural biopolyesters, are widely used in many applications, especially in biomedicine. Since they are produced by a variety of microorganisms, they possess special properties that synthetic polyesters do not have. Their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity are the crucial properties that make these biologically produced thermoplastics and elastomers suitable for their applications as biomaterials. Bacterial or archaeal fermentation by the combination of different carbohydrates or by the addition of specific inductors allows the bioproduction of a great variety of members from the PHAs family with diverse material properties. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and its copolymers, such as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHVB) or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB4HB), are the most frequently used PHAs in the field of biomedicine. PHAs have been used in implantology as sutures and valves, in tissue engineering as bone graft substitutes, cartilage, stents for nerve repair, and cardiovascular patches. Due to their good biodegradability in the body and their breakdown products being unhazardous, they have also been remarkably applied as drug carriers for delivery systems. As lately there has been considerable and growing interest in the use of PHAs as biomaterials and their application in the field of medicine, this review provides an insight into the most recent scientific studies and advances in PHAs exploitation in biomedicine.
Highlights
Synthetic plastics are used in many different applications, as they are a family of versatile materials
PHAs have been used in implantology as sutures and valves, in tissue engineering as bone graft substitutes, cartilage, stents for nerve repair, and cardiovascular patches
Longitudinal observation of the bone reaction at the implant site and resorption of the implanted pins were monitored, and the results showed that PHB composited with zirconium dioxide and 30% Herafill possessed the highest values of bone accumulation
Summary
Synthetic plastics are used in many different applications, as they are a family of versatile materials. There is growing recognition that organic matter of biological origin can be a worthy alternative [1] In this regard, natural polymers or biopolymers show many advantages relative to petrochemical materials, as they are biodegradable and produced from renewable sources. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a big family of naturally produced polyesters They are linear polymers composed of hydroxyalkanoate units as their basic structure (Figure 1a). Its applications are limited mainly by its high crystallinity and brittleness, which reduce its flexibility and ductility, PHB can be modified by physical blending or chemical alteration to fine-tune its mechanical properties [10,20] Another strategy to modify its mechanical properties is by copolymerization via bacterial fermentation using different precursors (Figure 1d). PHAs have been exploited for the replacement and healing of both hard and soft tissues in tissue engineering to repair cartilage, cardiovascular tissues, skin, bone marrow, and nerve conduits [22,33,34,35]
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