Preparation and Evaluation of Porous Chitosan/Collagen Scaffolds for Periodontal Tissue Engineering

The wide array of periodontal tissue engineering applications has demonstrated the need for appropriate biodegradable materials. Porous chitosan/collagen – a natural derivative composite – scaffolds could be a candidate. In this study, differently proportioned porous chitosan/collagen scaffolds were prepared by controlled freezing and lyophylization of corresponding composite solutions. The scaffolds were investigated via aperture, porosity, swelling behavior and cell-mediated contraction testing. The morphology and distribution of human periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) on these threedimensional scaffolds were investigated by SEM and CLSM. Compared to a single component scaffold, the addition of collagen to chitosan decreased the mean aperture, increased the swelling ability and the addition of chitosan to collagen decreased the contraction. The adherence and growth of PDLCs cultured within the chitosan/collagen scaffolds were better than on single chitosan or collagen scaffolds. It appears that chitosan/collagen composites are promising scaffold materials for periodontal tissue engineering.