Antibacterial silica-borate glasses for bone tissue engineering applications

[Excerpt] One of the major problems in bone tissue engineering/reconstruction isthe possibility of occurring bacterial contamination during the surgicalprocedure. Bacterial strains such asStaphylococcus aureusandPseudo-monas aeruginosaproved to be very difficult to eliminate from bonegrafts [1]. Silica-based bioglasses, namely from the silica-borate systemis gaining interest in thisfield [2]. Knowing in advance that boron hasantibacterial properties [3]; it is relevant to evaluate the anti-bacterialproperties of silica-borate glass formulations [4, 5]. In fact, bioglasseshave been used in bone tissue engineering for several decades due totheir capacity to improve, for example, the scaffolds mechanical perfor-mance, bioactivity or to promote osteoinduction. In this view, the sub-stitution of the current bioglasses with one that, added to the previouslisted properties, present an inherent antibacterial activity is a relevantapproach in the development of bone tissue engineering strategies. [...]