Amoxicillin-loaded polycaprolactone/ nanohydroxyapatite electrospun scaffolds

G. RIVERO; G. FURTOS; S. RAPUNTEAN; G.A. ABRAHAM

Conferencia; Conference on Electrospun Nano- and microfibres for biomedical applications; 2015

COST MP1206

In guided bone regeneration, a barrier membrane is used toprevent fibroblastic cells from colonizing an intraosseous wound duringhealing, allowing a slow migration of bone cells to fill the defect andregenerate the bone. In this work, electrospun matrices composed of poly(å-caprolactone)(PCL) and nanohydroxyapatite (nHAp) loaded with amoxicillin (AMX) were designedfor applications in the dental field.PCL can be slowly biodegraded without producing a localacidic environment, while nHAp has good biocompatibility, bioactivity, highosteoconductivity, and/or osteoinductivity [1,2]. Moreover, an antimicrobial activityis essential to control and/or reduce bacterial contamination of periodontaldefects as well as to enhance the regeneration. Different fibrousnanocomposites were obtained by varying the concentration of nHAp (0-20%) andantibiotic (0, 1 and 1.5%) incorporated in the composition. Uniform fibers were produced in all cases, with an averagediameter of 1.7 ± 0.5 µm. Structural, morphological, thermal, mechanical and surfaceproperties were determined. The presence of nHAp was evidenced by TGA and DRX,revealing certain crystallinity. Amoxicillin incorporated in the matrices wasquantified by UV-Vis spectroscopy [3], and its bactericidal effect was tested.The antimicrobial activity of the different compositions depended on both thedrug and the nHAp content. The incorporation of AMX seems to modify the nHApdistribution within the matrix. The bioactivity of the specimens in simulatedbody fluid (SBF) was assessed by SEM/EDAX, evaluating theirability to form apatite on their surfaces. Relevant biomineralization abilitywas evidenced in all samples after 21 days. High nHApcontent is more beneficial for bone regeneration but leads to certain decrease in the antimicrobialactivity. Taking into account that certain permanent deformation can beconvenient when the membrane is placed for dental applications, matrices containing10% nHAp resulted adequate.      Electrospun amoxicillin-loadednanocomposite scaffolds could be a promising biodegradable and bioactive materialfor dental applications.