The stability and bioactivity of biologic implants rely mainly on the control of the crosslinking process of collagen. However, the most common methods have no control on the crosslinking degree producing it excessively. This study outlines the role of crosslinking of collagen-based implants with oligourethane on the host response following reconstruction of a rat full-thickness abdominal wall defect. We decellularized and crosslinked bovine pericardial tissue to achieve two crosslinking degrees. For the decellularized implants, named as non-crosslinked (N-CL), the collagen-amines were 0.42 ± 0.02 mmol/mg. Crosslinking by the oligourethane reduced the primary amine concentration to 0.28 ± 0.01 and 0.19 ± 0.01 mmol/mg; these values were classified as low (∼30%, L-CL) and medium crosslinking (∼50%, M-CL), respectively. By imaging the implants using second harmonic generation microscopy, we observed undulated bundles of collagen fibers organized in multi-directed layers localized in N-CL and L-CL samples. Post-implantation, a negligible change in the organization of collagen fibers in the crosslinked implants was observed, suggesting that the in vivo biodegradation was delayed. An enlargement of the implant area was also observed, without rupture, in all three (N-CL, L-CL, M-CL) materials, whereas adhesion to the omentum, but not to the bowel, was observed. The number of blood vessels after 90-day implantation in N-CL and L-CL was 13 ± 1 and 12 ± 1 per field, respectively, while the number significantly decreased to 2 ± 1 in M-CL. The results suggest that the controlled degree of crosslinking in oligourethane-modified biologic implants can be used as a strategy to balance biodegradation and remodeling in surgical repair of soft tissues.
Keywords: Extracellular matrix scaffolds; abdominal wall repair; crosslinked surgical biomesh; host response; pericardial tissue.