Effects of alginate/chondroitin sulfate-based hydrogels on bone defects healing

• Published in: Materials Science & Engineering C Vol. 116; p. 111217
• Main Authors: Fenbo, Ma, Sijing, Li, Ruiz-Ortega, L.I., Yuanjun, Zhang, Lei, Xu, Kui, Wang, Lijun, Lin, Bin, Tang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.11.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Alginates; Alginic acid; Animals; Biomedical materials; Bone defects; Bone growth; Bone healing; Chondroitin sulfate; Chondroitin Sulfates - pharmacology; Defects; Hydrogel; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - pharmacology; Materials science; Mechanical properties; Morphology; Orthopedics; Osteoblasts; Osteogenesis; Polymerase chain reaction; Rabbits; Regeneration; Regeneration (physiology); Repair; Retention capacity; Strontium; Structural stability; Sulfates; Thermal stability; Tissue Engineering; Water uptake; Bone defects; Chondroitin sulfate; Hydrogel; Osteoblasts
• ISSN: 0928-4931; 1873-0191
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2020.111217

Repairing bone defects remains challenging in orthopedics. Here, strontium (Sr) alginate hydrogels containing chondroitin sulfate (CS) were fabricated for enhancing bone defects repair. The effects of CS incorporation ratio on the morphology, structure, thermal stability, water uptake and mechanical performance of Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels were also evaluated. Increasing CS incorporation ratio, Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels exhibit decreasing mechanical properties and lower water retention capacity. In vitro results suggest that Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels with higher CS ratio facilitate the proliferation of osteoblasts. Additionally, the osteogenic genes expressions were investigated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The results reveal that Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels should have positive effects on modulating the osteogenic factors. Moreover, by employing repair femoral cylindrical defects rabbit model, the efficiency of as-fabricated Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels in bone regeneration was evaluated. The animal study suggests that Sr-CS/alginate hydrogel could significantly facilitate bone defects repair and therefore should potentially be useful for osteochondral tissue engineering. •Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels with different CS/SA ratios were fabricated.•Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels with higher CS ratio favor osteoblasts proliferation.•Sr-CS/alginate hydrogels have positive effects on bone defects repair.