Hyaluronan Hydrogel/Calcium Phosphates Composites for Medical Application

The combination of calcium phosphate compounds and hyaluronan is expected to have advantages of both materials to be used as optimal scaffold for bone tissue engineering. It possesses the fundamental necessary characteristics such as bioactivity, biomechanical similarity, processability, and biodegradability. Preparation technology and properties of hyaluronan acid and calcium phosphate composites (HA/CaP) are described in the current study, and for the first time composites with high, up to 0.43 HA/CaP mass ratio are synthesized using chemical cross-linking method.HA/CaP hydrogels were prepared using fixed cross-linker amount at different HA concentrations. Swelling properties of prepared HA/CaP hydrogels were investigated as function of the HA content in composite. The swelling properties of hydrogels were studied in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4. It was observed that HA reinforcement with CaP particles increases hydrogel stability, and prepared HA/CaP hydrogels maintained their integrity up to 4 weeks.