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This article describes an investigation of collagen sponge mechanically reinforced through the incorporation of poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) fiber. A collagen solution with PGA fiber homogeneously dispersed at collagen:PGA weight ratios of 1.5, 0.8, 0.4, and 0.2 was freeze-dried, followed by dehydrothermal cross-linking to obtain collagen sponges incorporating PGA fiber to various extents. By scanning electron microscopy observation, the collagen sponges exhibited isotropic and interconnected pore structures with an average size of 180 microm, irrespective of PGA fiber incorporation. As expected, PGA fiber incorporation enabled the collagen sponges to significantly enhance their compression strength. In vitro cell culture studies revealed that the number of L929 fibroblasts initially attached was significantly greater for any collagen sponge incorporating PGA fiber than for collagen sponge. The shrinkage of sponge after cell seeding was suppressed by fiber incorporation. It is possible that shrinkage suppression results in the superior cell attachment of sponge incorporating PGA fiber. After subcutaneous implantation into the backs of mice, the residual volume of collagen sponge incorporating PGA fiber was significant compared with that of collagen sponge and increased with a decrease in the collagen:PGA ratio. The greater number of cells infiltrated and deeper infiltration were observed for collagen sponge incorporating PGA fiber implanted subcutaneously. We conclude that the incorporation of PGA fiber is a simple and promising way to reinforce collagen sponge without impairing biocompatibility.
Hiraoka et al. (2003) studied this question.