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A combined chitosan/nano-size hydroxyapatite system for the controlled release of icariin

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine volume 23, pages 399–407 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Icariin, a plant-derived flavonol glycoside, has been proved as an osteoinductive agent for bone regeneration. For this reason, we developed an icariin-loaded chitosan/nano-sized hydroxyapatite (IC–CS/HA) system which controls the release kinetics of icariin to enhance bone repairing. First, by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, we found that icariin was stable in the system developed without undergoing any chemical changes. On the other hand, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical test revealed that the introduction of icariin did not remarkably change the phase, morphology, porosity and mechanical strength of the CS/HA composite. Then the hydrolytic degradation and drug release kinetics in vitro were investigated by incubation in phosphate buffered saline solution. The results indicated that the icariin was released in a temporally controlled manner and the release kinetics could be governed by degradation of both chitosan and hydroxyapatite matrix. Finally the in vitro bioactivity assay revealed that the loaded icariin was biologically active as evidenced by stimulation of bone marrow derived stroma cell alkaline phosphatase activity and formation of mineralized nodules. This successful IC–CS/HA system offers a new delivery method of osteoinductive agents and a useful scaffold design for bone regeneration.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (973 Program No. 2009CB930003), NSF of China (Grant No. u0732003 and No. 30901532).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China

    Junjun Fan, Long Bi, Dexin Wang & Guoxian Pei

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Nanfang Hospital, Guangzhou, 510515, China

    Tao Wu, Liangguo Cao, Dan Jin & Shan Jiang

  3. The Affiliated Ophthalmology Hospital, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325027, China

    Kaihui Nan

  4. Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Jingdi Chen

Authors
  1. Junjun Fan
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  2. Long Bi
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  3. Tao Wu
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  4. Liangguo Cao
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  8. Dan Jin
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  9. Shan Jiang
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  10. Guoxian Pei
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Correspondence to Guoxian Pei.

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Junjun Fan, Long Bi, and Tao Wu are contributed equally to this work.

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Fan, J., Bi, L., Wu, T. et al. A combined chitosan/nano-size hydroxyapatite system for the controlled release of icariin. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 23, 399–407 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-011-4491-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-011-4491-4

Keywords

  • Chitosan
  • Polylactic Acid
  • Osteogenic Differentiation
  • Bone Regeneration
  • Release Kinetic