Bioactive Glass / Polycaprolactone Hybrid with Dual Cortical / Trabecular Structure for Bone Regeneration

Organic-inorganic hybrid biomaterials stand as a promise for combining bone bonding and bone mineral-forming ability, stimulation of osteogenic cells and adequate mechanical properties. Bioactive glass (BG) – polycaprolactone (PCL) hybrids are of special interest as they gather the ability of BG to enhance osteoblast-mediated bone formation with the slow degradation rate and the toughness of PCL. In this study, BG-PCL hybrids were synthesized in the form of scaffold owing a dual cortical/trabecular structure mimicking the bone architecture. Their biological potential was evaluated both in vitro using rat primary osteoblasts (RPO) and in vivo in a mice model of critical-size calvarial defects. BG-PCL were compared to LubbocTM (BTB), a commercial purified bovine xenograft widely used in orthopedics and periodontal procedures and known for its efficiency. BG-PCL hybrids were found to facilitate RPO adhesion at their surface and to enhance RPO differentiation when compared to BTB. In vivo micro-CT study demon...