Figure 8.
There was no significant difference of neovascularisation (Figure 9B) and neuronal ingrowth (Figure 9F) and myofibroblast differentiation (Figure 9H) between 60- and 180-days after vaginal implantation with P4HB scaffold. Presence of leukocytes at 180 days (score 2.7 ± 0.86 SD) was significantly higher compared to 60 days (score 2.05 ± 0.55 SD) after P4HB scaffold implantation (Figure 9D). At 180-days a more widespread infiltration area was CD45 positive, whereas at 60-post implantation this was more visible at the implant border. When compared to PP mesh, P4HB scaffold exhibited significantly (P<0.005) higher leukocyte infiltration (PP=1.29 ± 0.36 SD) at 60 days (Figure S3A), and significantly lower myofibroblast differentiation (PP: 2.41 ± 0.26 and P4HB: 1.62 ± 0.56 SD) at 180 days (Figure S3B).
Figure 9.
There was a statistically significant decrease observed in macrophage type-1 (M1) infiltration to P4HB scaffold between implantation times of 60- and 180-days (Figure 10B). At 60 days, M1 infiltration was more dominant (2.02 ± 0.62 SD) at the P4HB scaffold-tissue interface compared to 180 days (1.56 ± 0.59 SD). No statistically significant difference in M2 infiltration was observed between 60- (1.97±0.85 SD) and 180-days (2.24 ± 0.66 SD) post-implantation of P4HB scaffold. The M2/M1 ratio was significantly (P<0.01) higher at 180-days (1.70 ± 0.67 SD) as compared to 60-days (0.91± 0.60 SD) post-implantation of P4HB scaffold (Figure 10F). If compared with the retrospective PP mesh data, M2/M1 ratio at 180-days post-implantation was significantly higher with the use of P4HB scaffold (Figure S3C). (PP 0.92 ± 0.17 SD and 0.99 ± 0.78 SD at 60- and 180-days, respectively).
Figure 10.