Electrospinning lecithin to prevent adhesions

The goal of electrospinning is to produce nanofibers that contain a desired set of properties. Electrospinning occurs because the high voltage supplied causes charges to build up on the surface of a droplet of the solution. As the charges on the droplet interact with the electric field a Taylor cone is produced and a threshold is met, causing a jet of polymer to be expelled to the ground collector. The solvent is evaporated away during the process.

Internal organs in the peritoneal cavity are layered with mesothelial cells to prevent adhesions forming between organs. The body’s healing process may respond to irritation, inflammation, or infection by forming adhesions. Many times this is caused by some form of surgery in the abdomen or pelvic area. Symptoms and adverse effects that may occur from adhesions are infertility, chronic pelvic pain, abdominopelvic pain, bowel obstruction, longer surgical procedures, and reoperations. It is estimated that in the United States 1.2 billion dollars per year is spent on adhesions, not including outpatient expenses or missed work. In women adhesions are to blame for approximately 20%-40% of infertility cases and occur in nearly all abdominopelvic surgeries. Laparoscopic surgery and advances in surgical techniques are much more common and have helped reduce the occurrences of adhesions but these methods are still not satisfying the need of adhesion prevention.

The properties of lecithin could play a valuable role in adhesion prevention. Lecithin is a type of phospholipid, which is a major component of the lipid bilayer in cell membranes. Phospholipids are amphipathic because they are comprised of a polar hydrophilic head group and a non-polar hydrophobic carbon tail. Lecithin is also specifically known as phosphatidylcholine because choline makes up the polar head group. Lecithin has a soapy or oily feel because of the amphipathic behavior; this property could be used to prevent adhesions.

Below are are two SEM (scanning electron microscope) images I took. The top image is 1000x magnification, and the bottom image is 2000x magnification.

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