Figure 1.

Flow chart depicting the sequence of experiments conducted in the present study. The mixture of PLGA and SIM was ultrasonically shaken for 30 sec and stirred in 3% polyvinyl alcohol for 6 h until it fully solidified into microspheres. The microspheres were lyophilized for 24 h and added to COL solution, then thoroughly mixed by manual agitation. Subsequently, PCL scaffold was immersed in the mixture of COL and microspheres, cross-linked with 5 mM N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride crystalline solution for 24 h and freeze-dried for 48 h. The bioactivity of the scaffold was tested both in vitro and in vivo. PLGA, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid); SIM, simvastatin; COL, collagen; PCL, poly(ε-caprolactone); SEM, scanning electron microscopy.