Bioactive glasses (BGs), due to their ability to influence osteogenic cell functions, have become attractive materials to improve loaded and unloaded bone regeneration. BG systems can be easily doped with several metallic ions (e.g., Ag, Sr, Cu, Nb) in order to confer antibacterial properties. In particular, Nb, when compared with other metal ions, has been reported to be less cytotoxic and possess the ability to enhance mineralization process in human osteoblast populations. In this study, we co-deposited, through one-pot electrophoretic deposition (EPD), chitosan (CS), gelatin (GE) and a modified BG containing Nb to obtain substrates with antibacterial activity for unloaded bone regeneration. Self-standing composite scaffolds, with a defined porosity (15-90 μm) and homogeneous dispersion of BGs were obtained. TGA analysis revealed a BG loading of about 10% in the obtained scaffolds. The apatite formation ability of the scaffolds was evaluated in vitro in simulated body fluid (SBF). SEM observations, XRD and FT-IR spectra showed a slow (21-28 days) yet effective nucleation of CaP species on BGs. In particular, FT-IR peak around 603 cm-1 and XRD peak at 2θ = 32°, denoted the formation of a mineral phase after SBF immersion. In vitro biological investigation revealed that the release of Nb from composite scaffolds had no cytotoxic effects. Interestingly, BG-doped Nb scaffolds displayed antibacterial properties, reducing S. lutea and E. coli growth of ≈60% and ≈50%, respectively. Altogether, the obtained results disclose the produced composite scaffolds as promising materials with inherent antibacterial activity for bone tissue engineering applications.

中文翻译：

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掺Nb的生物活性玻璃对壳聚糖基复合支架的电泳处理，用于骨组织再生。

由于生物活性玻璃（BGs）具有影响成骨细胞功能的能力，它们已成为吸引人的材料，可以改善有负荷和无负荷的骨再生。BG系统可以很容易地掺入几种金属离子（例如，Ag，Sr，Cu，Nb），以赋予抗菌性能。特别是，据报道，与其他金属离子相比，Nb具有较低的细胞毒性，并具有增强人类成骨细胞群体矿化过程的能力。在这项研究中，我们通过一锅电泳沉积（EPD），壳聚糖（CS），明胶（GE）和含Nb的修饰BG共沉积，以获得具有抗菌活性的基质，可用于未负载的骨再生。获得具有确定的孔隙率（15-90μm）和BG均匀分散的自立式复合支架。TGA分析显示，所得支架中的BG含量约为10％。在体外在模拟体液（SBF）中评估了支架的磷灰石形成能力。SEM观察，XRD和FT-IR光谱显示CaP物种在BG上缓慢（21-28天）成核。尤其是，在603 cm-1附近的FT-IR峰和在2θ= 32°的XRD峰，表明在SBF浸没后形成了矿物相。体外生物学研究表明，复合支架中Nb的释放没有细胞毒性作用。有趣的是，掺杂BG的Nb支架显示出抗菌特性，分别使黄褐葡萄球菌和大肠杆菌的生长分别降低了约60％和约50％。总而言之，所获得的结果公开了所生产的复合支架是具有潜在的用于骨组织工程应用的固有抗菌活性的材料。