Formation of bioactive highly porous polymer matrixes for tissue engineering

The processes of fabrication of highly porous (60–90 vol %) bioactive heparin-containing polylactic scaffolds in supercritical carbon dioxide followed by their hydrophilization by dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment in the atmosphere were studied. A homogeneous distribution of heparin (HP) over the polymer volume was demonstrated by spatially resolved Raman scattering (RS) spectroscopy. The kinetics of heparin release from the scaffolds in distilled water was studied by spectrophotometry. A virtually linear increase in heparin concentration in a solution was shown from the second until the 15th day of experiments. Comparative in vitro study of cytotoxicity and matrix properties of pure polymer and heparin-containing scaffolds using NIH 3T3 mice fibroblast cultures demonstrated a positive effect of heparin distribution over the polylactic scaffolds on both cell adhesion and proliferation.