Three-Dimensionally Ordered Macroporous-Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Ceramics for Drug Delivery Capacity and Evaluation of Drug Release

Abstract

Bioactive glass ceramics (BGCs) have been used in orthopedic and dentistry due to having better osteoconductive and osteostimulative properties. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the drug release properties of two different BGCs; 45S5 and S53P4. The BGCs were composed with four phases of SiO2 – CaO – Na2O – P2O5 system, synthesized by sol–gel method using dual templates; a block-copolymer as mesoporous templates and polymer colloidal crystals as macroporous templates, called three-dimensionally ordered macroporous-mesoporous bioactive glass ceramics (3DOM-MBGCs). In vitro bioactivity test performed by soaking the 3DOM-MBGCs in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37°C. The results indicated that, the 45S5 have the ability to grow hydroxyapatite-like layer on the surfaces faster than S53P4. Gentamicin drug was used to examine in vitro drug release properties in phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The amount of drug release was quantified through UV/Vis spectroscopy by using o-phthaldialdehyde reagent. S53P4 showed high drug loading content. The outcome of drug release in PBS showed that both S53P4 and 45S5 exhibited a slowly continuous gentamicin release. The resultant drug release profiles were fitted to the Peppas-Korsmeyer model to establish the predominant drug release mechanisms, which revealed that the kinetics of drug release from the glasses mostly dominated by Fickian diffusion mechanism.