Surgical Suture Assembled with Tadalafil/Polycaprolactone Drug-Delivery for Vascular Stimulation Around Wound: Validated in a Preclinical Model

Abstract

In this study, a novel Polycaprolactone suture assembled with Tadalafil was investigated to improve wound healing processes via vascular stimulation. Tadalafil/Polycaprolactone (TP) suture was developed by the electrospinning method. The designed suture was characterized by SEM, mechanical properties assessments, tensile strength measurements and the drug release study. For in vivo tests, rats were classified into two study groups. An incision was made on their back skin and they were sutured with TP suture and Polycaprolactone suture as control. Rats were sacrificed at 7 days following surgery for histopathological examinations with Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. Results of Tensile test demonstrated that the lowest tensile strength belonged to 3 and 4 % wt and the highest tensile strength belonged to 1 and 2 % wt of TP suture. The rate of Tadalafil release showed that the highest drug release was related to 3 and 4% wt which were about 125 to 210 μg during 15 days. The histopathology revealed that the number of blood vessels, collagen fibers, fibroblast, polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and epithelization was remarkable in Tadalafil/Polycaprolactone group during 7-day. A novel Tadalafil/Polycaprolactone suture improved the processes of wound healing by releasing the Tadalafil drug around the sutured wound and can be used in medical applications.