Bone and joint
infections pose a serious challenge in the orthopedic medical condition which presents a major health care problem and economic burden to the patients. The current treatment strategies adopted have a very limited successful outcome in majority of the cases and need serious reconsiderations in terms of management, diagnosis and effective treatment approach. Herein, we have developed a composite
cryogel scaffold from nanohydroxyapatite and
collagen mimicking natural bone composition for the local delivery of
antibiotic to treat
osteomyelitis. The biomimetic and biodegradable
antibiotic-loaded composite scaffold was found to be biocompatible with potent osteogenic capacity and anti-infective characteristics under in vitro conditions. Moreover, the anti-infective potency of the
antibiotic-loaded composite
cryogel was also evaluated in rat
osteomyelitis model to cure the
infection and promote bone healing. It was observed that anti-infective
collagen-nanohydroxyapatite composite
cryogel when loaded with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and
zoledronic acid (ZA) could completely eradicate the
infection in rat femoral condyle and simultaneously, accelerate bone healing at the dead space created during
surgical procedures. The approach developed in this study is the development of biomimetic and bioactive composite carrier of
antibiotics for the treatment of bone
infection. The findings of this study insinuate that this
antibiotic-loaded composite
cryogel scaffold could potentially be used as an anti-infective
biomaterial for the treatment of bone
infections which will simultaneosuly promote bone healing at the dead space created during
surgical procedures.