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Today, there are over 2,000 different biomaterials used for various medical applications, but none of these biomaterials are 100% compatible with all human beings. Coconut fiber is widely available but has not been tested as a safe natural alternative for sutures. Immature coconut fiber is nonabsorbable and is effective for cuts and open wounds whe...
Citations
... Increased collagen synthesis and fibroblastic proliferation were detected with neovascularization. [83] ...
Sutures from natural and synthetic materials are utilized to close wounds, stop bleeding, reduce pain and infection, repair cutaneous wounds, minimize scarring, and promote optimal wound healing. We used mechanical and chemical methods to extract cellulose fibers from cylindrical snake grass (Dracaena angolensis) (Welw. ex Carrière) Byng & Christenh. Following the extraction process, the fibers increased in cellulose and water content, while hemicellulose and lignin decreased. The extracted fibers exhibited good mechanical properties, with weight losses of 7.4% in deionized water (DI) and 13.7% in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). In comparison, the commercial braided silk sutures (Mersilk braided silk non-absorbable suture) used as a control showed no weight loss. However, the morphology of the fibers remained consistent throughout the 35-day immersion period in either DI or PBS. In an in vivo biocompatibility test, a semi-quantitative analysis of host tissue reactions indicated no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the two suturing materials across all criteria, confirming the comparable biocompatibility of cylindrical snake grass fibers to that of commercial silk sutures. These findings demonstrate the promising potential of natural cellulose fibers derived from cylindrical snake grass as an alternative source of a non-absorbable surgical suture biomaterial, attributed to their outstanding mechanical properties and biocompatibility.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-85886-3.
Sutures are maneuvered in surgery for wound closure procedure with the aim of healing after injury or discretionary interventions or for hemostasis articulation. In spite of the renaissance advancement of sutures, natural fibers like silk and catgut chromium threads are still used in surgical procedure with modified version in terms of biocompatibility, antimicrobial properties, and drug-eluting characteristics. Natural plant biomaterials have lots of opportunities to act as surgical sutures with the potential to prevent inflammatory responses, increased collagen synthesis, and helping in the overall tissue reconstruction. Further, natural plant materials are more advantageous than synthetic fibers in terms of high biocompatibility, biodegradability, reduced antigenicity, and renewability. The present investigation addresses the number of plants and their parts, demonstrating their potential for drug-eluting suture material, such as Boehmeria nivea, Tinospora cordifolia, Moringa oleifera, Curcuma longa, Lawsonia inermis, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Nepeta dschuparensis B., Chamomile plant, Cocos nucifera L., Trigonella foenum-graecum, Linum usitatissimum, Commelina benghalensis, and Syzygium cumini. Instead, there are numerous plant materials which are unexplored but possess suturing material characteristics. Though, continuous furtherance in the development of surgical sutures, still there is not a perfect universal affordable suture which is right for every patient. Thus by combining the core characteristics of natural plant materials as suture materials with the advanced technology, it might be possible to develop ideal plant-based suture materials. This review focuses on plant-based materials for the development of biocompatible drug-eluting surgical suture, while digging deep into how natural or phyto-constituents can serve to advance this field.
