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Biocompatibility of a Sonicated Silk Gel for Cervical Injection During Pregnancy: In Vivo and In Vitro Study

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the biocompatibility of silk gel for cervical injection.

Study Design

Silk gel was injected into the cervix of pregnant rats on day 13 (n = 11) and harvested at day 17. Histology of silk gel was compared with suture controls. Also, human cervical fibroblasts were cultured on silk gel and tissue culture plastic (TCP) in vitro. Cell viability, proliferation, metabolic activity, gene expression (COL1A1, COL3A1, and COX2), and release of proinflammatory mediators (interleukin [IL] 6 and IL-8) were evaluated.

Results

In vivo, a mild foreign body response was seen surrounding the silk gel and suture controls. In vitro, cervical fibroblasts were viable, metabolically active, and proliferating at 72 hours. Release of IL-6 and IL-8 was similar on silk gel and TCP. Collagen and COX2 gene expression was similar or slightly decreased compared with TCP.

Conclusions

Silk gel was well tolerated in vivo and in vitro, which supports continuing efforts to develop silk gels as an alternative to cervical cerclage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington Street, Box 360, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Agatha S. Critchfield MD, Errol R. Norwitz MD, PhD & Michael House MD

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Reid Mccabe, Nikolai Klebanov & David L. Kaplan PhD

  3. Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Lauren Richey DVM, PhD

  4. Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Simona Socrate PhD

Authors
  1. Agatha S. Critchfield MD
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  2. Reid Mccabe
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  3. Nikolai Klebanov
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  4. Lauren Richey DVM, PhD
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  5. Simona Socrate PhD
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  6. Errol R. Norwitz MD, PhD
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  7. David L. Kaplan PhD
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  8. Michael House MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael House MD.

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Critchfield, A.S., Mccabe, R., Klebanov, N. et al. Biocompatibility of a Sonicated Silk Gel for Cervical Injection During Pregnancy: In Vivo and In Vitro Study. Reprod. Sci. 21, 1266–1273 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719114522551

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