Cv. Ragel et M. Vallet-regi, In vitro bioactivity and gentamicin release from glass-polymer-antibiotic composites, J BIOMED MR, 51(3), 2000, pp. 424-429
Composite materials have been prepared from bioactive glass powders in the
SiO2-CaO-P2O5 system, a biodegradable polymer [poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA)],
a biostable polymer [polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)], and an antibiotic [gen
tamicin]. The purpose of such composites is to obtain implantable materials
that are able to lead to bone growth and also can, at the most critical in
flammation-infection step, release an antibiotic. X-ray diffraction, scanni
ng electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, and FTIR anal
yses after different soaking periods in SBF demonstrated the growth of an a
patite-like layer on the composite surface. Therefore the bioactive glass-p
olymer-antibiotic combination used in this work does not inhibit the glass
bioactivity. The release of gentamicin after a soaking of the materials in
SBF was followed by UV-visible spectroscopy. A fast initial release during
the first 10 h of soaking, followed by a controlled release of the drug was
observed. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.