Agarose/collagen composite scaffold as an anti-adhesive sheet

The objective of this work was to find a new material or new technology to achieve satisfactory post-surgery anti-adhesion. An agarose/collagen composite sheet was developed to prevent mesenchymal cells and extracellular matrix from adhering on the lesion site, in which agarose formed uniaxial channels that hindered penetration and intercommunication of cells among pores in a 3D sheet. The tensile strength of the composite sheet in the designed ratio of agarose and collagen was over 17 MPa in dry and 2 MPa in wet, which was suitable and convenient to be sewed or operated on in other general surgery. In vitro and in vivo experimental results showed that fibroblasts, adult-derived adipose stem cells, could not penetrate into the sheet and formed a 3D tissue, and agarose did not degrade in three weeks. The demonstration that this sheet can prevent mesenchymal cells from penetrating in 3D and forming a tissue warrants the agarose-based composite for an anti-adhesive membrane.