Brushite bone cement containing polyethylene glycol for bone regeneration

Article type: Research Article

Authors: de França Silva Azevedo, Ana Clara^a | Morúa, Otto Cumberbatch^b | de Lima, Gabriel Goetten^{c; d} | da Silva, Henrique Nunes^b | da Silva Ferreira, Jefferson^a | Fook, Marcus Vinicius Lia^b | de Sá, Marcelo Jorge Cavalcanti^{a; d;}

Affiliations: [a] CERTBIO, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil | [b] Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Veterinária (PPGMV), Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil | [c] Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia e Ciência dos Materiais (PIPE), Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil | [d] Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, Athlone, Ireland

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Marcelo Jorge Cavalcanti de Sá, CERTBIO, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil; and Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, Athlone, Ireland. E-mail: mjcdesa@gmail.com

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Bone cements aid in bone regeneration; however, if the handling time is not well established for the material to harden, complications may arise. OBJECTIVE:This work investigates the effect of using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and characterize it in brushite bone cement in order to obtain desirable handling times as well as its regeneration in vivo to analyse if addition of this polymer may significantly modify its properties. METHODS:PEG 4000 was synthesised with wollastonite by phosphorization reaction in order to form brushite which was further cured by oven drying. They were further characterised and tested in vivo as tibial bone defect model using rabbits. RESULTS:Addition of PEG exhibited handling times of 60 min with a low increase in temperature when curing. Brushite phase of ∼71% was obtained after cement hardening with good compressive strength (25 MPa) and decent values of porosity (33%). In vivo presented that, at 40 days postoperatively, accelerated bone neoformation with partial consolidation at 30 days and total after 60 days when using bone cement. CONCLUSIONS:Addition of PEG does not disrupt the beneficial properties of the bone cement and can be a potential alternative to control the time-temperature profile of hardening these materials.

Keywords: Biomaterials, bone healing, fractures, grafts

DOI: 10.3233/BME-211308

Journal: Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 221-233, 2022