Electrospun membranes of poly(p-dioxanone-co-l-phenylalanine) (PDPA) hold potential as an anti-adhesion material. Since adjustable degradation properties are important for anti-adhesion materials, in this study, the in vitro and in vivo degradation processes of PDPA electrospun membranes were investigated in detail. The morphological analysis of these membranes revealed the main degradation conditions of PDPA membranes. The weight remaining and molecular weight variation showed that the overall degradation rate of the membranes could be adjusted by modulating the molecular structure of the PDPAs. Especially, α-chymotrypsin could catalyze the degradation process of PDPAs. Based on these results, the in vitro degradation mechanism was demonstrated, and confirmed by 1 H NMR of the hydrolysis products. Finally, the in vivo degradation and biocompatibility of different PDPAs were investigated. The kinetic study showed that the in vitro and in vivo molecular weight loss of PDPAs have the first-order characteristics. The in vivo degradation rate of the most Phe-containing PDPA-3 is the slowest, and this result relates to the biocompatibilities of PDPAs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1369-1378, 2017.
Keywords: anti-adhesion membranes; enzymatic degradation; hydrolysis; in vivo degradation; poly(ester-amide).
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.