Advancements in material science have made biopolymers a reliable solution in treating diseases for which there were no effective treatments. Intrauterine adhesions (IUAs) are the second leading cause of secondary infertility among women of reproductive age. Despite their negative impacts, the available data reveal that there is currently no effective treatment. This work serves to provide an overview of the progress in the biomedical application of biopolymers focusing on the clinical management of IUAs. Hysteroscopic adhesiolysis remains the standard treatment for IUAs, even though it is linked to recurrence and suboptimal reproductive outcomes. Efforts to improve IUAs treatment by combining hysteroscopy with adjuvants like physical barriers have not resulted in better outcomes. Biopolymers like hyaluronic acid (HA) represent a groundbreaking shift in regenerative medicine and have been used as anti-adhesives in the treatment of IUAs. This is attributed to their excellent biocompatibility, cell adhesiveness, biodegradability, low toxicity, and cell growth promotion ability. This study examines naturally occurring biopolymers, underscoring their biomedical applications, and limitations such as poor mechanical properties, rapid degradation, limited residence time, and bioavailability. Drawing from existing evidence and authors’ standpoints, innovative approaches harnessing the power of biopolymer engineering are suggested as future directions to overcome ongoing limitations.
Advancements in material science have made biopolymers a reliable solution in treating diseases for which there were previously no effective treatments. Intrauterine adhe-sions (IUAs) are the second leading cause of infertility among women of reproductive age. Despite their negative impacts, the available data reveal that there is currently no effective treatment. Thus, this work serves to provide an overview of the progress in the biomedical application of biopolymers focusing on the clinical management of IUAs. Hysteroscopic adhesiolysis remains the standard treatment for IUAs even though it is linked to recurrence and suboptimal reproductive outcomes. Equally, efforts to improve IUAs treatment by combining hysteroscopy with adjuvants like physical barriers have not resulted in better outcomes. Biopolymers like hyaluronic acid (HA) represent a ground-breaking shift in regenerative medicine and have been used as anti-adhesives in the treatment of IUAs. This is attributed to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegra-dability, low toxicity, and cell growth promotion ability. This review examines naturally occurring biopolymers, underscoring their biomedical applications, limitations such as rapid degradation, limited residence time and bioavailability and poor mechanical properties. Drawing from existing evidence and authors' standpoints, innovative ap-proaches harnessing the power of biopolymer engineering are suggested as future di-rections to overcome ongoing limitations.
Maleic anhydride (MAH) grafting is widely employed to compatibilise polylactic acid (PLA) in fibre-reinforced composites; however, the influence of reactant addition sequence during melt processing varies widely across the literature, with no clear consensus on an optimal approach. In this study, the effect of reactant addition sequence on the graft yield of MAH onto PLA was investigated using dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as an initiator. Four loading protocols were examined in which the order of addition of PLA, DCP, and MAH was varied using approaches commonly reported in the literature, while all other processing conditions were held constant. A strong dependence of grafting yield on addition sequence was observed, with values ranging from 0.12% to 0.51%, corresponding to more than a four-fold variation under otherwise identical processing conditions. Simultaneous addition of PLA, DCP, and MAH produced the highest grafting yield, attributed to a more effective utilisation of peroxide-derived radicals. These results demonstrate that the reactant addition sequence is a critical processing variable governing MAH grafting efficiency and that simultaneous addition represents the most effective processing strategy under the conditions examined.
Maleic anhydride (MAH) grafting is widely employed to compatibilise polylactic acid (PLA) in fibre-reinforced composites; however, the influence of reactant addition sequence during melt processing varies widely across the literature, with no clear consensus on an optimal approach. In this study, the effect of reactant addition sequence on the graft yield of MAH onto PLA was investigated using dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as an initiator. Four loading protocols were examined in which the order of addition of PLA, DCP, and MAH was varied using approaches commonly reported in the literature, while all other processing conditions were held constant. A strong dependence of grafting yield on addition sequence was observed, with values ranging from 0.12% to 0.51%, corresponding to more than a four-fold variation under otherwise identical processing conditions. Simultaneous addition of PLA, DCP, and MAH produced the highest grafting yield, attributed to a more effective utilisation of peroxide-derived radicals. These results demonstrate that reactant addition sequence is a critical processing variable governing MAH grafting efficiency.