Mesoporous Bioglasses Enriched with Bioactive Agents for Bone Repair, with a Special Highlight of María Vallet-Regí’s Contribution

Throughout her impressive scientific career, Prof. María Vallet-Regí opened various research lines aimed at designing new bioceramics, including mesoporous bioactive glasses for bone tissue engineering applications. These bioactive glasses can be considered a spin-off of silica mesoporous materials because they are designed with a similar technical approach. Mesoporous glasses in addition to SiO2 contain significant amounts of other oxides, particularly CaO and P2O5 and therefore, they exhibit quite different properties and clinical applications than mesoporous silica compounds. Both materials exhibit ordered mesoporous structures with a very narrow pore size distribution that are achieved by using surfactants during their synthesis. The characteristics of mesoporous glasses made them suitable to be enriched with various osteogenic agents, namely inorganic ions and biopeptides as well as mesenchymal cells. In the present review, we summarize the evolution of mesoporous bioactive glasses research for bone repair, with a special highlight on the impact of Prof. María Vallet-Regí´s contribution to the field.

Composite Bioinks With Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses—A Critical Evaluation of Results Obtained by In Vitro Experiments

Besides osteoconductivity and a high degradation rate, mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) are specific for their highly ordered channel structure and high specific surface area, making them suitable as drug and/or growth factor delivery systems. On the other hand, the mesoporous channel structure and MBG composition can have an effect on common cell evaluation assays, leading to inconclusive results. This effect is especially important when MBG is mixed in composite bioinks, together with cells. Additionally, the hydrogel component of the ink can influence the degradation of MBG, leading to different ion releases, which can additionally affect the analyses. Hence, our aim here was to show how the MBG structure and composition influence common cell viability and differentiation assays when calcium (Ca)- or magnesium (Mg)-containing glass is part of an alginate-based composite bioink. We suggested pre-labeling of cells with DiI prior to bioprinting and staining with calcein-AM to allow identification of metabolically active cells expressing signals in both green and red channels, allowing the use of fluorescence imaging for cell viability evaluations in the presence of high amounts (7 wt %) of MBGs. The release and uptake of ions during degradation of CaMBG and MgMBG were significantly changed by alginate in the composite bioinks, as confirmed by higher release and uptake from bulk glasses. Additionally, we detected a burst release of Mg2+ from composites only after 24 h of incubation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that released ions and the mesoporous channel structure affect the measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) in bioprinted composite scaffolds. Measured LDH activity was significantly decreased in the presence of CaMBG. On the other hand, the presence of MgMBG induced increased signal measured for the ALP. Taken together, our findings show how composite bioinks containing MBGs can interfere with common analyses, obtaining misleading results.

Ion-doped mesoporous bioactive glass: preparation, characterization, and applications using the spray pyrolysis method

Bioactive glasses (BAG) are one type of biomaterial that is used in dentistry and orthopedics to repair or replace damaged bone. The spray pyrolysis process is low-cost and one of the most common ways for producing porous films and films with high-density packing and particle homogeneity.

Studies of Substitution Effect of B2O3 on Structure and Properties of 1393 Bioactive Glass

Bioactive glass is mainly familiar for its outstanding biocompatibility and bioactive behavior and it’s known for important bone bonding ability. Bioactive glass is a reproduction fillet joint meant for orthopedic in addition to periodontal function of one of the leading applications. A silica based bioactive glass designated 1393 bio-glass® [wt. % (53) SiO2 – (6) Na2O – (12) K2O – (20) CaO – (5) MgO – (4)P2O5] 1393 is like 45S5 bio-glass®, other than it has a high SiO2 content and network modifiers, such as potassium oxide and magnesium oxide, bioactive glass, is also used clinically. In this communication, study of destructive (DT) & non-destructive (NDT) behavior of SiO2 replaced by boron trioxide (B2O3) in 1393 bioactive glass has been reported. The formed amorphous phase using x-ray diffraction (X-RD) analysis in bioactive glass will be identified. Density and mechanical properties measured using different types of instrument and using ultrasonic wave velocities study the elastic properties like young’s , shear, bulk modulus and Poisson’s ratio of bioactive glasses were reported. The results point to the substitution of boron trioxide in 1393 bioactive glass enhanced its density, mechanical properties and elastic properties, similarly for silica.

Bioactive glasses incorporating less-common ions to improve biological and physical properties

Bioactive glasses (BGs) have been a focus of research for over five decades for several biomedical applications. Although their use in bone substitution and bone tissue regeneration has gained important attention, recent developments have also seen the expansion of BG applications to the field of soft tissue engineering. Hard and soft tissue repair therapies can benefit from the biological activity of metallic ions released from BGs. These metallic ions are incorporated in the BG network not only for their biological therapeutic effects but also in many cases for influencing the structure and processability of the glass and to impart extra functional properties. The “classical” elements in silicate BG compositions are silicon (Si), phosphorous (P), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), and potassium (K). In addition, other well-recognized biologically active ions have been incorporated in BGs to provide osteogenic, angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects such as zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), silver (Ag), strontium (Sr), gallium (Ga), fluorine (F), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), boron (B), lithium (Li), titanium (Ti), and copper (Cu). More recently, rare earth and other elements considered less common or, some of them, even “exotic” for biomedical applications, have found room as doping elements in BGs to enhance their biological and physical properties. For example, barium (Ba), bismuth (Bi), chlorine (Cl), chromium (Cr), dysprosium (Dy), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), ytterbium (Yb), thulium (Tm), germanium (Ge), gold (Au), holmium (Ho), iodine (I), lanthanum (La), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), niobium (Nb), nitrogen (N), palladium (Pd), rubidium (Rb), samarium (Sm), selenium (Se), tantalum (Ta), tellurium (Te), terbium (Tb), erbium (Er), tin (Sn), tungsten (W), vanadium (V), yttrium (Y) as well as zirconium (Zr) have been included in BGs. These ions have been found to be particularly interesting for enhancing the biological performance of doped BGs in novel compositions for tissue repair (both hard and soft tissue) and for providing, in some cases, extra functionalities to the BG, for example fluorescence, luminescence, radiation shielding, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. This review summarizes the influence of incorporating such less-common elements in BGs with focus on tissue engineering applications, usually exploiting the bioactivity of the BG in combination with other functional properties imparted by the presence of the added elements.

Material Properties of Strontium Doped Bioactive Glasses/Hydroxyapatite Composite and Its Mechanism of Promoting Bone Repair

Based on bioactive glasses (BG) of 58S, sol–gel method is used to prepare strontium oxide substituted bioactive glasses (SrO-BG) with different strontium content. SrO-BG and nano hydroxyapatite (HAp) composite materials were synthesized using precipitation method. The phase composition and morphologies of the prepared materials were examined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The dissolution and bio-mineralization of SrO-BG and SrO-BG/HAp composites in SBF are investigated by immersion method. The effects of secretion components of macrophages regulated by strontium doped SrO-BG/HAp composites on the osteogenic differentiation (OD) of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the SrO-BG can inhibit the dissolution of BG. Different proportions of SrO-BG/HAp composites show good ability to induce HAp in SBF. The bio-mineralization ability of SrO-BG/HAp composites increases with the increase of SrO-BG content. The results of dissolution behavior and bio-mineralization of SrO-BG/HAp composite show that the dissolution rate of each ion can be controlled by adjusting the content of SrO-BG in the composite, and then the degradation rate can effectively be controlled. The results of in vitro experiments show that SrO-BG/HAp composites with 2%, 5% and 8% strontium content are more effective in promoting M2 polarization of macrophages than SrO-BG/HAp composites with 0% strontium content. Among them, 5% strontium doped SrO-BG/HAp has the strongest effect on M2 polarization of macrophages, and the secretion of macrophages regulated by 5% strontium doped SrO-BG/HAp composite is more conducive to bone repair.