Copper-containing mesoporous bioactive glass coatings on orbital implants for improving drug delivery capacity and antibacterial activity

Anophthalmic orbit restoration with artificial implants is usually accompanied with the risks of bacterial penetration and implant exposure. Here, we develop a facile evaporation-inducing self-assembly approach to modify the porous hydroxyapatite (pHA) orbital implants by using sol-gel derived CuO-containing mesoporous bioactive glass (Cu-MBG). The Cu-MBG coatings with 0-5 mol% CuO were prepared in the pore wall of pHA by immersion-evaporation-ageing route in the sol precursor of Cu-MBG. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and Barrette-Joyner-Halenda analyses showed that the specific surface area and pore volume were slightly decreased with increasing CuO content, while the Cu-MBG-modified pHA maintained a sustained release of ofloxacin and significantly inhibited the bacterial viability (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli). These studies demonstrate that the Cu-MBG modification provides an effective and facile strategy to endow combined biological performances of pHA orbital implants and potentially reduce implant-related side effects.