Bioactive Materials

Bioactive Materials

Volume 8, February 2022, Pages 196-209
Bioactive Materials

Natural polymer-derived photocurable bioadhesive hydrogels for sutureless keratoplasty

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.07.001Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • The bioadhesive has high adhesive strength, light transmittance, resistance to degradation and excellent biocompatibility.

  • The bioadhesive hydrogel can bond donor corneal grafts to the recipient corneal bed until the wound heals.

  • This system supports the graft-recipient corneal integration, and the operated corneas remain transparent and uninflamed.

  • This bioadhesive may be an appealing option as a suture substitute in keratoplasty, cornea and other tissue adhesion.

Abstract

Keratoplasty is the gold standard treatment for visual impairment caused by corneal damage. The use of suturing as the bonding method is the source of many complications following keratoplasty. Currently available corneal adhesives do not have both adequate adhesive strength and acceptable biocompatibility. Herein, we developed a photocurable bioadhesive hydrogel which was composed of gelatin methacryloyl and oxidized dextran for sutureless keratoplasty. The bioadhesive hydrogel exhibited high light transmittance, resistance to enzymatic degradation and excellent biocompatibility. It also had higher adhesive strength than commercial adhesives (fibrin glue). In a rabbit model of lamellar keratoplasty, donor corneal grafts could be closely bonded to the recipient corneal bed and remained attached for 56 days by using of this in situ photopolymerized bioadhesive hydrogel. The operated cornea maintained transparent and noninflamed. Sutureless keratoplasty using bioadhesive hydrogel allowed rapid graft re-epithelialization, typically within 7 days. In vivo confocal microscopic and histological evaluation of the operated cornea did not show any apparent abnormalities in terms of corneal cells and ultrastructure. Thus, this bioadhesive hydrogel is exhibited to be an appealing alternative to sutures for keratoplasty and other corneal surgeries.

Keywords

Bioadhesive hydrogels
Photocurable
Cornea repair
Sutureless keratoplasty

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Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

1

Xuan Zhao and Saiqun Li contributed equally.