Acceptance rate 46%
Time to first decision 20 days*
Time to decision with review 50 days*

*Approximate number of days

**The days mentioned above are averages and do not indicate exact durations. The process may vary for each article.


ACTA Pharmaceutica Sciencia 2007 , Vol 49 , Num 3
PREPARATION AND IN VIVO EVALUATION OF GELATINE IMPLANTS CONTAINING EGF-PLGA MICROSPHERES IN TENDON HEALING
ZAFER ORHAN, ERDAL CEVHER, MİNE ORLU GÜL, MURAT ALPER, DERYA ÖZÇELİK, CANAN AĞARTAN, FİLİZ ÖNER
Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hacettepe University, Ankara Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) has been shown to improve tissue healing according to several well-design experimental studies. The possible role of EGF in tendon healing has not been defined. However, the main drawback of studies on the efficiency of EGF is to provide a long-term constant supply of EGF to target cells. In this respect, we hypothesized that the microspheres contained EGF would overcome this problem by providing a constant local supply of EGF. This study had investigated the role of EGF-loaded microspheres in a rat model for tendon healing. EGF-loaded particles were prepared by double emulsion solvent evaporation method and embedded into gelatine implant. Implants containing microspheres which are equivalent to 10ug EGF (I-MSEGF10) and 2ug EGF (I-MSEGF2) were applied to Wistar albino rats. Histological and biomechanical studies were performed on to 21 days treated rats. I-MSEGF10 group showed prominent fibrosis and increased neoangiogenesis. Although, there was no major difference between I-MSEGF10 group and negative control group for the fibroblast and collagen proliferation (p>0.05), the difference for inflammation was statistically significant between same groups (p<0.05). Consequently, the approach of combining EGF and microspheres to extend the EGF release and in the same time increasing the contact time of EGF to tendon tissue was achievable. However, according to the obtained histological and biomechanical results, gelatine implants including EGF loaded microspheres were not found effective in tendon healing. Keywords : TENDON HEALING; EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR; MICROSPHERE; GELATINE IMPLANT

Istanbul Medipol University