Modification of collagen formation using supplemented mesh materials.

Background: Formation of recurrent inguinal and incisional hernia shows an underlying defect in the wound healing process. Even following mesh repair an altered collagen formation and insufficient mesh integration has been found as main reason for recurrences. Therefore the development of bioactive mesh materials to achieve a local modification of the scar formation to improve patients outcome is advisable.

Methods: Thirty-six male Wistar rats were used within this study. A Mersilene (R) mesh sample was implanted after midline skin incision and subcutaneous preparation. Before implantation mesh samples were incubated for 30 minutes with either one of the following agents: doxycycline, TGF-beta 3, zinc-hydrogeneaspartate, ascorbic acid, hyaluronic acid. Incubation with a physiologic 0.9 % NaCl solution served as control. Seven and 90 days after mesh implantation 3 animals from each group (n = 6) were sacrificed for morphological observations. Collagen quantity and quality was analyzed measuring the collagen/protein as well as the collagen type I/III ratio.

Results: Following an implantation interval of 90 days supplementation with doxycycline (39.3 +/- 7.0 microg/mg) and hyaluronic acid (34.4 +/- 5.8 microg/mg) were found to have a significantly increased collagen/protein ratio compared to implantation of the pure Mersilene (R) mesh samples (28.3 +/- 1.9 microg/mg). Furthermore, an overall increase of the collagen type I/III ratio was found in all groups indicating scar maturation over time. However, no significant differences were found after 7 and 90 days of implantation comparing collagen type I/III ratio of supplemented mesh samples and control group.

Conclusions: In summary, we found an influence of supplemented mesh materials on collagen deposition. However, the investigated bioactive agents with reported influence on wound healing were not associated with an improved quality in scar formation.