Production of Collagen Membrane derived from Janitor fish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis)

Gas bladder of fishes is composed of collagen; a material used on occlusive barriers for Guided Tissue Regeneration(GTR). Objective: To discover good use of rapidly proliferating Janitor fishes (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) on Philippine waters, their gas bladder is the subject of interest as an alternative to commercially-available GTR membrane. Methods: Janitor Fishes were harvested from Marikina River, Philippines for this study. Each was dissected to retrieve gas bladder. Bladders were purified and saponified using NaOH and HCl. Collagen was extracted using Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and compared to a collagen standard using Thin Layer Chromatography(TLC). Retention Factor(Rf) value of samples were derived. Further procedures include deswelling, neutralization, drying and degreasing. Produced collagen membranes were subjected to thickness and suture pull-out strength(SPS) tests. Results: TLC reveals statistical evidence that there were no significant differences in the mean Rf values among different set-ups. This indicates that molecular weight of collagen samples fall within the range of collagen type I. Difference in thickness was observed in relation to exposure time to NaOH and HCl in conjunction with varying SPS. Thicker membrane tends to have higher SPS. In comparison with commercially-available GTR membrane,collagen membrane was inferior both in thickness and SPS. Conclusion: This study suggests that collagen membrane derived from Janitor fish is comparable to commercially-available GTR membrane in terms of Rf value. However, to conclude whether it is comparable in terms of thickness and SPS or not, one of the two variables must be standardized by achieving either a uniform thickness or SPS.