Cross-linking of hyaluronic acid with 1, 2, 7, 8-diepoxyoctane

Abstract

Hydrogels are usually achieved by cross-linking, which matters in tissue engineering. During the past decade, although various hydrogels have been synthesised using different cross-linking agents such as divinylsulphone and 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether, some serious problems remain unresolved, especially excessive residuals. Here, we used 1,2,7,8-diepoxyoctane as the cross-linker to prepare hyaluronic acid hydrogels and employed different biochemical methods to evaluate the performance of hyaluronic acid hydrogels. The results indicated that (1) hyaluronic acid hydrogels exhibited a proper swelling ratio suitable for filling a material; (2) The residual content of 1,2,7,8-diepoxyoctane was ∼0.5–1.2 µg g⁻¹, which was lower than industry standard; (3) The Cell Counting Kit-8 test revealed that hyaluronic acid hydrogels had no toxicity; (4) The vitro degradation test indicated that the residual weight of hyaluronic acid hydrogels was at least ∼46.9% after 4 weeks, which showed a potential to resist degradation. In conclusion, 1,2,7,8-diepoxyoctane-cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogels could be used as a promising material in tissue engineering.

Keywords:

• Hydrogel
• Hyaluronic acid
• 1
• 2
• 7
• 8-Diepoxyoctane
• Biocompatible
• Biodegradation