Formulation of Different Chitosan Hydrogels for Cartilage Tissue Repair

Different formulations of Chitosan/sulphate and Chitosan/PEGDE were produced by physical and chemical reticulation to obtain hydrogels with better physiochemical properties. The hydrogels were analyzed – in terms of their non-toxicity, proliferative, differentiative, inflammatory and immunology responses. Commercial grade Chitosan (Sigma) was solubilized and purified by progressive filtrations. Then, the polymer was freeze-dried in a water soluble cationic form. A physical hydrogel was prepared by mixing a 3 % w/w water solution of the a.m. polymer with different stoichiometric ratios of (SO4=) 1/0.5;1/0.75;1/1 respectively. The hydrogels were cross-linked in multiwells. The chemical hydrog…