The role of oxidation and enzymatic hydrolysis on the in vivo degradation of trimethylene carbonate based photocrosslinkable elastomers

The in vivo degradation of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) containing elastomers was investigated, and the mechanism of degradation explored through in vitro degradation under enzymatic and oxidative conditions. The elastomers were prepared via UV initiated crosslinking of prepolymers of TMC and equimolar amounts of TMC and epsilon-caprolactone (CL). The degradation process was followed by investigating the changes in the mechanical properties, mass loss, water uptake, sol content, differential scanning calorimetry, and surface chemistry through attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. During in vivo degradation, TMC and TMCCL elastomers exhibited surface erosion. The tissue response was of greater intensity in the case of the TMC elastomer. Both elastomers exhibited degradation in cholesterol esterase containing solutions in vitro, but no parallels were found between the rate of in vivo degradation and the rate of in vitro degradation. Only the TMCCL elastomer degraded in lipase. Degradation in a stable superoxide anion in vitro medium was consistent with the observed in vivo degradation results, indicating a dominant role of oxidation through the secretion of this reactive oxygen species by adherent phagocytic cells in the degradation of these elastomers.