Polycaprolactone scaffold engineered for sustained release of resveratrol: therapeutic enhancement in bone tissue engineering

Biomaterials-based three-dimensional scaffolds are being extensively investigated in bone tissue engineering. A potential scaffold should be osteoconductive, osteoinductive, and osteogenic for enhanced bone formation. In this study, a three-dimensional porous polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold was engineered for prolonged release of resveratrol. Resveratrol-loaded albumin nanoparticles (RNP) were synthesized and entrapped into a PCL scaffold to form PCL-RNP by a solvent casting and leaching method. An X-ray diffraction study of RNP and PCL-RNP showed that resveratrol underwent amorphization, which is highly desired in drug delivery. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicates that resveratrol was not chemically modified during the entrapment process. Release of resveratrol from PCL-RNP was sustained, with a cumulative release of 64% at the end of day 12. The scaffold was evaluated for its bone-forming potential in vitro using human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for 16 days. Alkaline phosphatase activity assayed on days 8 and 12 showed a significant increase in activity (1.6-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively) induced by PCL-RNP compared with the PCL scaffold (the positive control). Moreover, von Kossa staining for calcium deposits on day 16 showed increased mineralization in PCL-RNP. These results suggest PCL-RNP significantly improves mineralization due to its controlled and prolonged release of resveratrol, thereby increasing the therapeutic potential in bone tissue engineering.