Antibacterial Properties of Guided Bone Regeneration Membrane for Periodontal Applications

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) membrane is used as a barrier to prevent soft tissue ingrowth and to encourage bone regeneration through cellular exclusion. This study aims to assess antibacterial properties of recently developed three-layered poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) /lauric acid (LA) composite membrane towards Staphylococcus aureus. One of the outmost layers of three-layered membrane was incorporated with 1-3 wt% of LA. The composite membrane was developed using thermally induced phase separation/solvent leaching technique. SEM results shows formation of PLGA matrix with smaller pores by the addition of 1 wt% LA compared with pure PLGA membrane. Samples of 1.7 cm diameter disk containing 1, 2 and 3 wt% of lauric acid were tested and pure membrane without lauric acid was used as a control. Results showed that the zones of inhibition were 2.3 cm and 2.5 cm for the 2 wt% and 3 wt% LA-containing membranes, respectively. However, 1 wt% LA-containing membrane observed to have no inhibition at all, indicating that increasing concentration of LA has significant inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus. The 3 wt% LA composition will be used in the mechanically optimized membranes for degradation studies in future works.