Effect of molecular mobility of polymeric implants on soft tissue reactions: an in vivo study in rats

Although numerous different polymers are used as implants or otherwise studied for many other biotechnical applications, there is a lack of basic models that correlate polymer characteristics with foreign body reactions. This study aims at developing one such model by systematically studying surface molecular mobility of polymeric implants in soft tissues in vivo. Changing the length of the alkyl side chain of poly(alkyl methacrylates) (PAMAs), provides an interesting opportunity to study the surface molecular mobility with minimal changes of the hydrophobicity of the surface. Thus, in this study three different PAMAs, with increasingly surface mobility; poly (isobutyl methacrylate) (PIBMA), poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), and poly(lauryl methacralate) (PLMA) along with pure titanium (Ti) substrates were implanted in the dorsum of Sprague-Dawley rats. Inflammatory cell recruitment, cell adhesion, and cytokine release were studied after 1, 3, and 28 days of implantation. Total number of inflammatory cells in the exudate was measured but no correlation between surface mobility and cell recruitment where found. However, the number of surface associated cells where significantly lower on the surfaces with high molecular mobility (PLMA and PBMA). The histological evaluation performed after 28 days revealed thicker fibrous capsule and a higher number of blood vessels on the low molecular mobility surface (PIBMA). After 28 days the cell activity was higher on the high molecular mobility surfaces (PLMA and PBMA) compared with PIBMA, based on the cytokine release. None of the surfaces induced any significant cell-death. On the basis of the results of this study we conclude that there is a significant difference in biological response to surfaces with different in molecular mobility. This might affect the wound healing process and the biocompatibility of biomaterials.