Electrospun fibers of poly (lactic acid) containing bioactive glass and magnesium oxide nanoparticles for bone tissue regeneration

Electrospun fibers of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) containing 10 and 20 wt% of bioactive glass (n-BG) and magnesium oxide (n-MgO) nanoparticles of ca. 27 and 23 nm respectively, were prepared toward to application in bone tissue engineering. The addition of both nanoparticles into the PLA will produce a synergic effect increasing its bioactivity and antimicrobial behavior. Neat PLA scaffold and the composites with MgO showed an average fiber diameter of 1.7 +/- 0.6 mu m, PLA/n-BG and PLA/n-BG/n-MgO fibers presented a significant diameter increase reaching values of ca. 3.1 +/- 0.8 mu m. Young's modulus of the electrospun scaffolds was affected by the direct presence of the particle and scaffold morphologies. All the composites having n-BG presented bioactivity through the precipitation of hydroxyapatite structures on the surface. Although n-MgO did not add bioactivity to the PLA fibers, they were able to render antimicrobial characteristics reducing the S. aureus viability around 30%, although an effect on E. coli strain was not observed. PLA/n-BG nanocomposites did not display any significant antimicrobial behavior. The different composites increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression as compared with pure PLA barely affecting the cell viability, meaning a good osteoblastic phenotype expression capacity, with PLA/n-BG presenting the highest osteoblastic expression.

Automated summary

Electrospun fibers of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) containing bioactive glass and magnesium oxide nanoparticles were prepared for bone tissue engineering. The addition of these nanoparticles increased the bioactivity and antimicrobial behavior of the PLA fibers. The presence of bioactive glass resulted in the precipitation of hydroxyapatite structures on the fiber surface, while magnesium oxide nanoparticles exhibited antimicrobial properties. The different composites also enhanced alkaline phosphatase expression.