Abstract
Polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactide (PLA) are the two most common biodegradable polymers with potential use in oral applications. Both polymers undergo mainly slow hydrolytic degradation in the human body. However, specific conditions of the oral cavity, like elevated temperature, low pH, and presence of saliva affect the rate of hydrolysis. The study examined the properties of solid samples of PCL and PLA subjected to degradation in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and artificial saliva (AS) at temperatures of 37 or 42 °C, and pH values 2 or 7.4. A number of tests were performed, including measurement of the degree of swelling, weight loss, molecular weight, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetry of polymers, as well as hardness and tensile strength. Additionally, topography and stiffness of surfaces using atomic force microscopy are presented. It has been noticed that in the artificial saliva, the processes of polymer degradation occur slightly more slowly, and the effects of temperature and pH are less pronounced. We believe that a layer of porcine gastric mucin from artificial saliva that adsorbed on the surface of polymers may have a key role in the observed differences; this layer resembles protective mucin coating tissues in the oral cavity.
Highlights
Biomaterials are a wide group of materials used to evaluate, treat or replace tissues, organs or functions in the human body
We presented the influence of a mucin-based artificial saliva (AS) environment on degradation processes of PCL and PLA at temperatures of 37 and 42 ◦ C, and pH values 2 and 7.4
phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or artificial saliva (AS, whose composition was based on mucin and xanthan gum) were used as the contacting environment
Summary
Biomaterials are a wide group of materials used to evaluate, treat or replace tissues, organs or functions in the human body. The most important group of this type of applications are polymers [1,2,3,4]. The time for which a polymer should retain the designed functions in the tissue environment, the so-called functional time, is the most important measure of its properties. Important, parameter is the disappearance time, which determines the time for the total removal of material from the body. The polymer still releases degradation products, which, depending on the release rate and the physical and chemical properties, can trigger the body’s reactions [2]. The design of the polymer-based medical device requires determining the behavior of the material in the tissue
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