زهرا گرگین کرجی

Unmet clinical needs in terms of improved bone regeneration and infection prevention present increasingly more sophisticated challenges that require development of orthopedic biomaterials with multiple advanced functionalities. Additive manufacturing or 3D-printing offer unique advantages including bone-mimicking mechanical properties and a fully-interconnected porous structure that could accommodate drug delivery vehicles against implant-associated infection and limited osseointegration. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) can be used to apply a multifunctional coating for the simultaneous release of two types of active agents, namely an osteogenic agent and an antibiotic. In this study, 3D printed titanium structures were coated with tri-calcium phosphate (TCP)/ vancomycin loaded silk fibroin via EPD technique. To gain an optimal coating, different vancomycin concentration (0, 0.2, and 0.5 mg/ml ) were used while the TCP concentration was kept constant (0.4 mg/ml). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) verified the formation of a coating layer of silk containing vancomycin and TCP. Antibacterial assay confirmed the bactericidal properties of the highest loaded vancomycin group (0.5 mg/ml) against adherent and non-adherent Staphylococcus aureus strain (ATCC 49230) bacteria after 1 day. Moreover, the cell viability, proliferation and morphology of MC3T3 cells were elevated in all the groups except for the non-coated (as-manufactured) group. The highest loaded vancomycin group reflected higher biomineralization by calcium measurement after three weeks. The developed 3D-printed biomaterials with multiple functionalities including enhanced bone regeneration and infection prevention can be potentially used for the clinical application.