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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 May 15.
Published in final edited form as: Chem Eng J. 2018 Jan 3;340:9–14. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2018.01.010

Figure 1. Natural biodegrading pathways of polylactic acid (PLA) in primary sites of medical device implantation.

Figure 1

The main mechanism for PLA degradation inside the body is hydrolysis of the ester-bond backbone. The degradation rate is dependent on pH and temperature in the tissue, on one hand, and on the composition of the polymer, on the other. Therefore the degradation rate in sites of inflammation will be higher compared to healthy tissues. Chirality also affects the degradation rate, D-PLA will degrade faster compared to L-PLA. This enables to tailor the implant to the desired organ and for the desired biomedical application.