A novel chitosan hydrogel membrane by an improved electrophoretic deposition and its characteristics in vitro and in vivo.

Here, we report a novel chitosan hydrogel membrane (CHM) created by an improved electrophoretic deposition. Unlike a traditional CHM by electrophoretic deposition, the CHM was formed on a nanoporous film as a barrier using a homemade device at a high DC voltage (60 VDC). The CHM maximum recovery of 81.7% could be achieved after 1h of electrophoretic deposition. The transparent CHM with an elongation of 42.46% and swelling index of 538.86% was a mixture of type I and type II crystal structures. SEM revealed that the CHM had an irregular net structure. The CHM was sufficient for L-929 mouse fibroblast cell adhesion and growth. To demonstrate immunocompatibility with host tissues, H&E and TGF-β1 were observed and the expressions of TNF-α and NF-κB were measured up to 3weeks post-implantation. Although these scaffolds demonstrated an initial pro-inflammatory response, the amount of inflammatory cells and the expressions of TGF-β1 returned to baseline control values at 3weeks. The expressions of TNF-α and NF-κB had no significant difference between the experimental and control groups. Animal experiments showed that the CHM did not incite serious inflammatory reactions. Thus, the CHM is a promising medical biomaterial candidate for loading appropriate cells for use as artificial skin or in transplantation.