Inflammatory response evaluation for electrospun polycaprolactone/silk sericin membranes in vivo

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that silk sericin (SS) can accelerate the proliferation of mammalian cells and promote wound healing. SS has good activities for antibacteria, antioxidation and anticancer. SS also has a good biocompatibility and biodegradability. It is an ideal material for tissue engineering, however, there is still a controversy of whether SS causes inflammatory response so far. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the inflammatory response of electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL)/SS membranes. METODS: Materials with different PCL/SS ratios were implanted into the back muscles of rats and were taken out after 4 weeks. The inflammatory response was evaluated by hematoxylin eosin staining and macrophage antibody CD68 immunohistochemistry. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The inflammatory response of the 7:3 group of PCL/SS membranes is similar to that of silk fibroin membrane and was less than those of the 6:4, 5:5 and PCL groups. The 6:4 and 5:5 groups have similar inflammatory response with PCL group. Electrospun PCL/SS membranes can not cause significant inflammatory response. A little amount of SS can decrease the inflammatory response of PCL membrane. However, the inflammatory response of PCL/SS membrane can increase as the ratio of SS to PCL increased.