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. 2019 Nov 4;9(1):15957.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52042-7.

Nanohydroxyapatite Reinforced Chitosan Composite Hydrogel with Tunable Mechanical and Biological Properties for Cartilage Regeneration

B Y Santosh Kumar  1 , Arun M Isloor  2 , G C Mohan Kumar  3 , Inamuddin  4   5   6 , Abdullah M Asiri  7   8
Affiliations

Nanohydroxyapatite Reinforced Chitosan Composite Hydrogel with Tunable Mechanical and Biological Properties for Cartilage Regeneration

B Y Santosh Kumar et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

With the continuous quest of developing hydrogel for cartilage regeneration with superior mechanobiological properties are still becoming a challenge. Chitosan (CS) hydrogels are the promising implant materials due to an analogous character of the soft tissue; however, their low mechanical strength and durability together with its lack of integrity with surrounding tissues hinder the load-bearing application. This can be solved by developing a composite chitosan hydrogel reinforced with Hydroxyapatite Nanorods (HANr). The objective of this work is to develop and characterize (physically, chemically, mechanically and biologically) the composite hydrogels loaded with different concentration of hydroxyapatite nanorod. The concentration of hydroxyapatite in the composite hydrogel was optimized and it was found that, reinforcement modifies the hydrogel network by promoting the secondary crosslinking. The compression strength could reach 1.62 ± 0.02 MPa with a significant deformation of 32% and exhibits time-dependent, rapid self-recoverable and fatigue resistant behavior based on the cyclic loading-unloading compression test. The storage modulus value can reach nearly 10 kPa which is needed for the proposed application. Besides, composite hydrogels show an excellent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria's and Candida albicans fungi and their cytocompatibility towards L929 mouse fibroblasts provide a potential pathway to developing a composite hydrogel for cartilage regeneration.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) X-ray diffraction spectra and (b) SEM of synthesized hydroxyapatite nanorod.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Photographs of (a) CS and (b) CS/HANr composite hydrogel.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM images of (a) CS and (b) CS/1.5HANr composite hydrogel.
Figure 4
Figure 4
FTIR spectra of (a) HANr (b) CS and (c) CS/1.5HANr hydrogel.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Swelling kinetics of CS and CS/HANr composite hydrogel.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Unconfined compression stress-strain curve of composite hydrogel and (b) Typical cyclic loading-unloading compression curve of CS/HANr composite hydrogel.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Cyclic loading-unloading curve of CS/1.5HANr composite for hundred cycles.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Rheological properties of chitosan and its composite hydrogels as a function of angular frequency.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Antimicrobial activity of CS and CS/1.5HANr composites against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Microbial zone of inhibition (a) CS and (b) CS/1.5HANr composite.
Figure 11
Figure 11
L929 mammalian cell viability on CS/1.5HANr composite hydrogel towards DMEM, PHA, CS and CS/1.5HANr composite samples after 72 h culture.
Figure 12
Figure 12
The morphological observations of the inverted microscopic images of L929 cells cultured for 72 h culture on (a) DMEM (b) PHA (c) CS and (d) CS/1.5HANr.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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