Bone relief: innovative biofilms will accelerate implant survival
Russian scientists have tested several variants of polymer biofilms and selected those options that can be used to cover implants implanted in the human body. The materials produced by the bacteria will contribute to the accelerated formation of new tissues, while causing a minimal reaction to a foreign body. Experts told Izvestia that the technology will be indispensable after operations involving endoprosthetics. And they noted that now such coatings are being developed in many research teams because of their promise.
Implant survival rate
Scientists from Siberian Federal University (SibFU) and St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO) have tested several types of biopolymer films that can be used to manufacture implants in surgery. This was reported to Izvestia by the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science.
After studying their properties, the researchers identified those species that will contribute to the accelerated formation of new tissues in the human body, while causing a minimal reaction to a foreign body.
The films are based on polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a polymer material of biological origin, which has been studied at SibFU for more than ten years. A significant difference between the manufactured films that took part in the experiment is the special relief of the surfaces.
— Biopolymer is created by bacteria. Depending on what we feed these microorganisms, we get polymers of different compositions," Galina Ryltseva, co—author of the study, a junior researcher at the Laboratory of Biotechnology of New Biomaterials, an assistant at the Department of Medical Biology at SibFU, told Izvestia. — The relief pattern that is naturally obtained on each of the four types of films depends on how the body's cells will react — in particular, how intense the inflammatory reaction will be, and it is inevitable even to such a low-allergenic natural material as a biopolymer.
The emphasis on the "inflammatory potential" of films is not accidental. According to the researcher, the resulting formulations can cover various surgical products implanted in the human body, such as metal implants for limb repair in fractures, as well as cardiological, urological, and gastroenterological stents.
The first "line of defense" of the body that reacts to the appearance of a foreign body is blood, so scientists have studied how red blood cells react to biopolymer films. Monocytes, blood cells involved in the detection and destruction of any foreign agent trapped inside the human body, have also become an important "target". The researchers also studied the reaction to fibroblast biofilms — excessive accumulations of these cells can lead to the formation of fibrosis and scarring in organs and tissues.
The scientists needed to create the most nature-like structure with the porosity, crystallinity, and relief that would most contribute to cell growth and the formation of healthy tissue around the implant, while reducing inflammation.
— The film should be practically "invisible" to the body and ideally improve the recovery and healing of tissues, — Galina Ryltseva continued.
Why do we need biofilms?
The films are formed in the Laboratory of Biotechnology of new biomaterials at SibFU from powdered biopolymer dissolved in chloroform. When the solvent evaporates, a veil with an individual surface relief is formed. Each of the four types of films studied has different pore sizes, different strengths, and so on. It is these characteristics of the coatings of future implants that should send positive signals to the cells of the human body so that tissues and organs recover faster after injury and/or surgery.
— In fact, we are simulating the extracellular matrix with the help of films. If you take any tissue in the human body — bone, muscle, epithelial — and "remove" the cells, it turns out that they are attached to such a natural matrix with a unique porous surface. We are trying to achieve a similar structure using biopolymers so that such a natural tissue forms on them," Galina Ryltseva explained to Izvestia.
A special feature of the work carried out at ITMO is the development of digital models of such coatings. Specialists build a digital twin of a material, analyze its structure, roughness, mechanical and physico-chemical properties, and predict its behavior in the body.
"This allows us to predict the rate and characteristics of the coating's destruction, its interaction with the biological environment, and regulate the release of active substances, if any, into the film. The use of modern methods of atomic force microscopy and in-flow modeling makes it possible to determine in advance how the material will behave under specific operating conditions," Ekaterina Skorb, director of the ITMO Scientific and Educational Center for Infochemistry, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, told Izvestia.
The development of special films that are applied to implants is promising, said Andrey Nikolaenko, head of the Bioprosthesis Design Laboratory at the NTI SamSMU Center. After surgeries involving endoprosthetics, patients often face difficult rehabilitation and a lengthy recovery process, so any developments that can facilitate this process are urgently needed.
"Many specialists are developing such films, for example, scientists at Samara Medical University use a coating of polymer films that break down in the body, releasing the drug," the expert commented.
According to scientists, the next step may be the development of biodegradable stents that are in demand in cardiology for the treatment of vascular diseases. With this perspective in mind, researchers are already studying the reaction of endothelial cells (the tissue lining blood and lymph vessels) to biofilms with diverse surfaces.
The tests were carried out on cell culture, and in the future, biopolymer films with different surface relief will be tested in vivo on living organisms.
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