Biodegradable polymers biological terms

A number of polymer systems were tested for tissue biocompatibility and release kinetics. The best long-term release results were obtained with hydrophobic polymers. Examples included non-degradable ethylene-vinyl acetate or biodegradable polylactic acid. Certain hydrogels such as polyhy-droxyethylmethacrylate or polyvinylalcohol also worked effectively, but released proteins for shorter time periods. With the hydrophobic polymers, biologically active protein was released for more than 100 days (2). In other tests, larger molecules (2 million MW), such as polysaccharides and polynucleotides, were also successfully released for long time periods (2). 

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