Ventral hernia repair in rat using nanofibrous polylactic acid/polypropylene meshes

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Surgical Innovation

Background:

• Hernia repair often involves synthetic meshes, but challenges like inflammation and adhesion formation persist.
• Developing advanced mesh materials with improved biocompatibility and mechanical integrity is crucial for better surgical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel nanofibrous polylactic acid (PLA) and polypropylene (PP) composite mesh for hernia repair.
• To assess the mechanical properties, cytocompatibility, degradation, and in vivo performance of the PLA/PP mesh compared to existing materials.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a nanofibrous PLA/PP mesh using electrospinning.
• In vitro testing including tensile testing, cytocompatibility, and degradation studies.
• In vivo evaluation in a rat model with 90 rats allocated to PLA/PP, PP, and polyester (PE) mesh groups.

Main Results:

• The PLA/PP mesh demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to PP and PE meshes.
• Significantly reduced inflammation and adhesion formation were observed in the PLA/PP group (p < 0.05), linked to the TGF-β1/Smad pathway.
• Enhanced distribution of collagen I and III was noted in the PLA/PP mesh group (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• The developed PLA/PP mesh exhibits excellent mechanical strength and biocompatibility.
• The material shows potential for minimizing adverse tissue responses, such as inflammation and adhesions.
• The PLA/PP mesh is a promising candidate for future applications in ventral hernia repair.