Biocompatibility and mechanical property analysis of cartilage scaffolds based on snail secretions and chitosan

Cartilage damage is an highly observed clinical situation in orthopaedic events. Although there are traditional techniques known as autografting, allografting these treatments have risk factors such as donor site morbidity, infections and immunogenic reactions. In the recent years, researchers aimed to create new methods to replace surgical procedures. This situation led the researchers to the tissue engineering applications. In this study, it was aimed to produce scaffolds containing chitosan, chitosan-slime and chitosan-mucus and to investigate the compatibility of the formed structures to cartilage tissue. Chitosan-slime and chitosan-mucus tissue scaffolds were created by adding snail(Helix aspersa) secretions at different amounts (0.5%, 1% and 3%). Scaffolds were obtained by using the lyophilization method and morphology of tissue scaffolds were determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and chemical composition by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). In addition, swelling ratio test, porosity test, biodegradation test, biomechanical analysis (compression tests) and antimicrobial tests for five different strains were performed. As a result, scaffolds containing snail secretions have been produced as intended. As the secretion ratios added to the polymer increased, the mechanical strength and biodegradation increased and the swelling rate decreased. It was determined that the pore diameters of the structures with higher secretion rate in the obtained SEM images were decreased compared to the control group. Furthermore, porosity for all scaffolds was more than 80%. Also, the antimicrobial tests have been indicated that the snail secretions effect two bacterial strains out of five. Key Words: Chitosan, Helix aspersa, Mucus, Slime, Cartilage Tissue Engineering