In vitro and in vivo evaluations of mg-Zn-Gd alloy membrane on guided bone regeneration for rabbit calvarial defect

Abstract To develop a biodegradable membrane with guided bone regeneration (GBR), a Mg-2.0Zn-1.0Gd alloy (wt.%, MZG) membrane with Ca-P coating was designed and fabricated in this study. The microstructure, hydrophilicity, in vitro degradation, cytotoxicity, antibacterial effect and in vivo regenerative performance for the membrane with and without Ca-P coating were evaluated. After coating, the membrane exhibited an enhance hydrophilicity and corrosion resistance, showed good in vitro cytocompatibility upon MC3T3E-1 cells, and exhibited excellent antibacterial effect against E. coli, Staphylococcus epidermis and Staphylococcus aureus, simultaneously. In vivo experiment using the rabbit calvarial defect model confirmed that Ca-P coated MZG membrane underwent progressive degradation without inflammatory reaction and significantly improved the new bone formation at both 1.5 and 3 months after the surgery. All the results strongly indicate that MZG with Ca-P coating have great potential for clinical application as GBR membranes.