Novel biopolimeric system for bone tissue engineering: crosslinked and plasticized chitosan/poly vinyl alcohol/hydroxiapatite scaffolds

Porous scaffolds made of chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol and hydroxyapatite were prepared via freeze-drying method. In this matter, three different volume ratios of polymer solutions (1:1, 1:3, 3:1) and constant hydroxyapatite mass ratio were blended. Glutaraldehyde and glycerol were added as a polymer-chain crosslinker and plasticizer, respectively. The obtained scaffolds were used to test bone proliferation and potential for bone regeneration and they were characterized through FTIR, mechanical tests, cell cultures and swelling tests. Every quantitative measurement was statistically tested using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with ρ <; 0.05. Partial results from cell culture have been obtained, showing faster cell differentiation in the scaffolds combined with glutaraldehyde and glycerol. Crosslinked scaffolds showed better swelling conditions than those that were not subject to this chemical reaction. Besides, samples with higher chitosan ratio exhibited better swelling behavior. Experiments suggest that the bio-polymeric system has potential for bone tissue regeneration.