Bioactive Glass as a Nanoporous Drug Delivery System for Teicoplanin

Bioactive glass (BG) was made by the sol–gel method and doped with boron (B) to increase its bioactivity. Microstructures of BG and B-doped BG were observed by scanning electron microscopy, and phase identification was performed using an X-ray diffraction diffractometer. The ion concentrations released after soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 1, 4, and 7 days were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the pH value of the SBF was measured after soaking samples to determine the variation in the environment. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis was performed to further verify the characteristics of mesoporous structures. High performance liquid chromatography was used to evaluate the drug delivery ability of teicoplanin. Results demonstrated that B-doped BG performed significantly better than BG in parameters assessed by the BET analysis. B-doped BG has nanopores and more rough structures, which is advantageous for drug delivery as there are more porous structures available for drug adsorption. Moreover, B-doped BG was shown to be effective for keeping pH values stable and releasing B ions during soaking in SBF. The cumulative release of teicoplanin from BG and B-doped BG reached 20.09% and 3.17% on the first day, respectively. The drug release gradually slowed, reaching 29.43% and 4.83% after 7 days, respectively. The results demonstrate that the proposed bioactive glass has potential as a drug delivery system.