Collagenase Digestion of Collagen Membranes in vitro

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the degradation kinetics of different collagen barrier membranes in vitro. Methods: Four different commercially available barrier membranes and an experimental one were compared: BioGide^® Perio (Geistlich Biomaterials), BioMend^® (Integra Lifescience), Ossix™ (ColBar Lifescience), Tutodent^® (Tutogen Medical) and 10806 Collagen VN (Geistlich Biomaterials). The membranes were weighed and incubated in a crude collagenase of Clostridium histolyticum (Cat.-No. C2674, Sigma Aldrich Co.). The remaining membrane fragments after different collagenase incubation intervals (up to 12 hours) were determined by a picrosirius red staining procedure and quantified by measuring their optical densities in a microplate reader. Based on individual calibration curves for each membrane (Sigma Plot 8.0, SPSS Inc.), the optical density data were transferred into remaining collagen. The ratios of the amount of collagen to the amount of the starting material were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney-Test (p ≤ 0.05). Results: For each membrane, linear calibration curves (r² ≥ 0.92) could be created for calculating the weight of the membrane fragments on basis of their respective optical densities. While the BioGide^® Perio membranes showed complete degradation after 2 hours, the BioMend^® and the Ossix™ membranes disintegrated within 6 hours entirely. In contrast, the Tutodent^® membranes were only degraded to 40% and the experimental 10806 Collagen VN membranes to 80% within the test period. Conclusions: The method of staining collagen membranes by picrosirius red seem to be suitable for the quantification of degraded collagen membranes. It could be shown, that different collagen membranes possibly have different degradation kinetics. The results of the present study are basically coherent to the crosslinking procedures of the collagen membranes as stated by the manufacturers.

(The present study was supported by Geistlich Biomaterials, Wolhusen, Switzerland)