Functionalized silver doped hydroxyapatite scaffolds for controlled simultaneous silver ion and drug delivery

Bacterial infections are a major problem in bone tissue regeneration, thus it is essential to incorporate antibacterial properties within the bone scaffolds. Silver compounds are frequently used as antibacterial agents to prevent bacterial infections and numerous studies have shown that silver ions can be incorporated within the biocompatible and osteoconductive biomaterial hydroxyapatite (HAp) structure, but, so far, no study has thoroughly evaluated silver ion release rates in long term. Therefore, we have established a novel carrier system for local drug delivery based on functionalized silver doped hydroxyapatite with determined long term silver ion release rates. Silver ions from prepared scaffolds were released with a rate of 0.001±0.0005 wt%/h taking into account the incorporated silver amount. Moreover, lidocaine hydrochloride was incorporated in the prepared scaffolds, to provide local anesthetic effect. These scaffolds were functionalized with sodium alginate and chitosan and in vitro drug release rate in simulated body fluid was evaluated. The results suggested that the developed novel composite scaffolds possess the antibacterial activity up to one year as well as controlled anesthetic drug delivery up to two weeks.