Alkaline-treated poly(epsilon-caprolactone) films: degradation in the presence or absence of fibroblasts.

In the first stage, we observed the study of the degradation behavior of alkaline-treated poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) in two biologically-related media: phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) for 18 months, finding a much accelerated degradation in the last one. As expected, the degradation in the presence of cells is much pronounced even considering that the study is limited to 6 months. The characterization of the degraded substrates by chemiluminescence (CL) allows to explain the modifications of the substrate and their relations with transitory oxidative stress phenomena described in the fibroblasts seeded onto the PCL membranes.