In vitro comparative evaluation of polycaprolactone/polylactic acid copolymer and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene based Guided Tissue Regeneration membrane for bacterial adhesion

Purpose: Earlier in vitro models have aimed to study the barrier function against the bacterial penetration across the GTR membranes. No such study is present in the literature which is aimed to quantify bacterial adhesion over the surface of the membrane irrespective of surface being examined. Method: Sterile Resorbable PLA/PGA copolymer and Non resorbable Microporous eptfe based GTR membrane were used in the study. Both groups were subdivided into two subgroup (n=10) based on incubation period of 24 and 48 hours. Incubated in Todd Hewitt broth with streptococcus mutans, at each incubation time period the samples were vortexed and analysed for bacterial count (CFU) and also by scanning electron microscopy. Result: Between PLA/PGA and ePTFE GTR membrane at 24 hrs incubation time period , there was a significant difference in terms of Colony forming units (W = 100.000, p = <0.001), with the median Colony forming units being highest in the PLA/PGA GTR membrane. Also at 48 hrs incubation time period, There was a significant difference in terms of Colony forming units (W = 100.000, p = <0.001), with the median Colony forming units being highest in the PLA/PGA gtr membrane. Conclusion: Our findings depicts that ePTFE based GTR membrane showed significantly lesser bacterial adhesion on its surface as compared to PLA/PGA at both the incubation periods i.e. 24hrs and 48 hrs as shown by both spot test and SEM .