Multifunctional titanium surfaces for orthopedic implants: antimicrobial activity and enhanced osseointegration

GHILINI F; FAGALI NS; PISSINIS D; BENITEZ G; SCHILARDI PL

ACS Applied Bio Materials

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 2021 vol. 4 p. 6451 - 6461

The use of implants in orthopedics and dental practice is a widespread surgical procedure to treat diverse diseases. However, peri-implantitis due to infections and/or poor osseointegration can lead to metallic implant failure. The aim of this study is to develop a multifunctional coating on titanium (Ti) surfaces, to simultaneously deal with both issues, by combining antibacterial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and regenerative properties of lactoferrin (Lf). A simple and cost-effective methodology that allows the direct multifunctionalization of Ti surfaces was developed. The modified surfaces were characterized by AFM, XPS and contact angle measurements. Additionally, in vitro pre-osteoblast cell adhesion, cell viability, and differentiation were evaluated. The antibacterial capability of the surfaces was tested against Staphylococcus aureus as prosthesis infection model strain. Our results show that Lf adsorbs on both, Ti surfaces and Ti surfaces with adsorbed AgNPs. Simoultaneous presence of Lf and AgNPs notably improved pre-osteoblast adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, whereas reduce the bacterial colonization by 97.7%. Our findings indicate that this simple method may have potential applications in medical devices to both improve osseointegration and to reduce bacterial infection risk, enhancing implant success and patients? life quality .