Hydrotalcite/hydroxyapatite composites with high bacterial activity against clinical bacteria. A new alternative to prevent osteomyelitis diseases

Bone bacterial infection such as osteomyelitis present a serious hazard for human health since it is frequently generated in a post-operative bone implant with hydroxyapatite. The addition of bactericidal hydrotalcites to the hydroxyapatite, might constitute a way to prevent the risk of such infection diseases. In this work, composites formed by hydroxyapatite with hydmtalcites having different compositions were synthesized in a simultaneous way and tested against clinical multi-resistant bacteria. It was found that the hydrotalcite component was constituted by very small particles and homogeneously dispersed over the hydroxyapatite material. The antimicrobial activity results show that only the composites formed by hydmtalcites containing copper were active against S. epidermidis, S. aureus and E. fecalis bacteria. They presented a high bactericidal activity since a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.5 mg/mL was sufficient. Still, hydroxyapatite and hydmtalcite are non-toxic materials and, considering the low amount of copper or zinc present, their use in animals could be envisaged.