Comparison of three-dimensional extruded poly (ε-caprolactone) and polylactic acid scaffolds with pore size variation

Additive manufacturing (AM) has become a prominent approach among the scientific community for the production of three-dimensional (3D) matrices able to support tissue engineering approaches, promoting cell adhesion, proliferation and organization aiming to repair different tissues, such as bone or cartilage. In this study we used an extrusion-based technique for the production of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds and performed a side-by-side scaffold characteristics comparison. Using this technique we were able to create fully 3D interconnected porous scaffolds with pore size variations ranging from 190 μm to 390 μm with both materials. These scaffolds were assessed for stiffness, wettability and cell adhesion using mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC). Comparisons between these two materials were made. The compressive modulus obtained is on the same order of magnitude for both materials. However, PCL presents a statistically significant higher compressive modulus. Results confirmed that PCL is a more hydrophobic material, so it presents a lower wettability when compared to PLA. Interestingly cell adhesion is similar for PLA and PCL, therefore selection between these two materials for the use of this versatile platform can be defined according with biodegradability aimed.