Study on repair of abdominal wall defect rats with hernia mesh coated with chitosan-based photosensitive hydrogel

Herein, hydroxypropyl chitosan azide (AZ-HPCTS) was synthesized and prepared as a hydrogel coating applied to a polypropylene mesh (PPM) through UV irradiation. This study confirmed the hypothesis that hydrogels with porous three-dimensional network structures exhibited excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability and adhered well to PPM. During the 180-day follow-up period, the AZ-HPCTS-coated PPM (AH-PPM) promoted wound healing by promoting the secretion of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in the acute reaction stage, which was reduced to a lower level at 30 d. The PPM exhibited a lower fibrin lysozyme activity based on the expression of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) compared with that of AH-PPM (P < 0.05). The intraperitoneal adhesion score of AH-PPM decreased to 2.4 at 180 d in contrast with PPM (P < 0.01), which remained at a high level throughout the study. In conclusion, the AZ-HPCTS hydrogel is a potential coating for hernia patches that deserves further study in the biomaterial field.