Effect of esterase on methacrylates and methacrylate polymers in an enzyme simulator for biodurability and...

Current in vitro biocompatibility methods do not evaluate the degradation of biomaterials after contact with enzymes that might be present in the oral or systemic environment. In this study, two methods of in vitro enzyme degradation and a method for the separation of the degradative products by high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) are reported. In the first method two dental adhesives, Scotchbond and Scotchbond II, and two dental composites, Heliomolar and P-50, were evaluated. These materials were incubated with four different enzymatic preparations for periods of up to 72 h. The enzymes were lipase, esterase, and liver enzyme extracts from both mouse and rat. Chloroform soluble products extracted from the aqueous phase were examined by HPTLC for decomposition products resulting from enzyme activity. The second method was similar, but analyzed the aqueous fraction directly without chloroform extraction. In this method five dental restorative materials, P-50, P-30, Scotchbond II, Silux, and Silux Plus, were incubated with a nonspecific porcine liver esterase. In addition to the polymerized biomaterials, monomers containing methacrylic acid units were also hydrolyzed with esterase and analyzed by ion chromatography to establish the sensitivity of the enzyme simulator. Each biomaterial presented thin-layer zones not present before enzymatic action. These experiments provide support that aqueous enzymatic action may facilitate the hydrolytic weakening of polymeric biomaterials.