3D-printed implant to prevent conjunctival fibrosis in glaucoma
2023
King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
After glaucoma surgery, conjunctival fibrosis is common. Multiple injections of the substance 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) under the conjunctiva should prevent this, but this treatment has some disadvantages.
This study focuses on the development of a delayed-release 5-FU implant using 3D bioprinting. For this purpose, the implant made of polycaprolactone (PCL) and chitosan (CS) was loaded with 1% 5-FU.
The 5-FU concentration released over 8 weeks was measured by ultraviolet visible spectroscopy. The effects on cell viability, fibroblast contractility, and expression of major fibrotic genes were studied in human conjunctival fibroblasts.
The PCL-CS-5-FU implant released 5-FU for 8 weeks, during which time conjunctival fibroblast viability was unaffected, but fibroblast contractility and major fibrotic genes were persistently suppressed.
The results suggest that the PCL-CS-5-FU implant can be used as a sustained-release implant to replace repeated 5-FU injections after glaucoma surgery.
3D-printed long-acting 5-fluorouracil implant to prevent conjunctival fibrosis in glaucoma
Cynthia Yu-Wai-Man
Added on: 04-25-2023
[1] https://academic.oup.com/jpp/article/75/2/276/6972810
