Publications

Abstract : Surgical debridement of the dead bone and subsequent systemic antibiotic therapy is often ineffective in eliminating Staphylococcus aureus infections in osteomyelitic patients. The recurrence of S. aureus infection is mainly due to the intracellular growth of bacterial colonies within osteoblast cells that protect the organism from extracellular host defences and/or antibiotic therapy. In this study, porous gelatin-hydroxyapatite (HAP) scaffolds with various amounts of ciprofloxacin (1, 2, 5, and 10 wt%) were fabricated by freeze-drying technique and the release of the antibiotic was characterized, as was the efficacy of the released antibiotic against methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Furthermore, the impact of the released antibiotic on the viability and osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) cultured on the scaffolds were assessed. Finally, the efficacy of the released ciprofloxacin to enter the cells and abate intracellularly located S. aureus was evaluated. All the groups of CGHA scaffolds displayed sustained release of ciprofloxacin against S. aureus for 60 days above the minimum inhibitory concentration for the target species with zero-order kinetics and Korsmeyer-Peppas models. While comparing, the released antibiotic from CGHA5 scaffolds was found to be effective at reducing S. aureus through the study period, without detrimental effects on human ADMSC viability or osteogenic potential. When stem cells internalized with S. aureus were cultured onto the drug-loaded scaffolds, a significant reduction in the colony count of internalized bacteria was observed, resulting in the osteogenic differentiation capability of those cells. Our results clearly demonstrate that the ciprofloxacin incorporated gelatin-HAP scaffolds, which were cytocompatible and could target both intracellular and extracellular S. aureus, defining its potential to be used as local drug delivery system. © Copyright 2015, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2015.