In vitro and in vivo evaluation on the bioactivity of ZnO containing nano-hydroxyapatite/chitosan cement.

A ZnO containing nano-hydroxyapatite/chitosan (n-HA/CS) cement was developed and its bone formation ability was investigated in vitro and in vivo. The physico-chemical properties of the cement were determined in terms of pH variation during and after setting, injectability and wettability. The results indicated that, the pH varied from 7.04 to 7.12 throughout the soaking of the cement in distilled water. The injectability was excellent during the first 4 min, but the cement became less injectable or even not injectable at all after 7 min setting. The static contact angle of the cement against water was 53.5 +/- 2.7 degrees . The results of immersion tests in simulated body fluid (SBF) indicated that the cement exhibited excellent bone-like apatite forming ability. In vivo studies, involving the installation of the cement of tibial-bone defects in rabbit tibia revealed an inflammatory response around the cement at 3 days of implantation. After 4 weeks, the inflammation began to disappear and the cement had bound to the surrounding host bone. Radiological examination also confirmed that the ZnO containing n-HA/CS cement significantly induced new bone formation. These results suggest that the ZnO containing n-HA/CS cement may be beneficial to enhance bone regeneration in osseous defect sites.