THE CONTROLLED-RELEASE OF ANTIBIOTIC BY HYDROXYAPATITE - ANIONIC COLLAGEN COMPOSITES

Major problems with the treatment of osteomyelitis are associated with poor antibiotic distribution at the site of infection due to limited blood circulation to the skeletal tissue. Improved treatment procedure s have been used in drug delivery systems that include bioceramics and natural and synthetic polymers. This work reports the development of anionic collagen:hydroxyapatite composite paste for sustained antibiot ic release. Antibiotic release by the composite was characterized by t wo steps. In the first, 15.0 +/- 4.9% was released in the first 5 h (n = 53) by a normal Fick diffusion mechanism. In the second step, only 16.8 +/- 2.2% was released after 7 days. In conclusion, hydroxyapatite :anionic collagen composite can be an efficient support for sustained antibiotic release in the treatment of osteomyelitis because most of t he antibiotic release may be associated with composite bioresorption, thus permitting antibiotic release throughout the healing process. Hyd roxyapatite:anionic collagen paste showed good biocompatibility associ ated with bone tissue growth with material still being observed after 60 days from the time of implants.