The influence of polymeric component of bioactive glass-based nanocomposite paste on its rheological behaviors and in vitro responses: Hyaluronic acid versus sodium alginate

Different biocomposite pastes were prepared from a solid phase that was nanoparticles of sol-gel-derived bioactive glass and different liquid phases including 3% hyaluronic acid solution, sodium alginate solutions (3% and 10 %) or mixtures of hyaluronic acid and sodium alginate (3% or 10 %) solutions in 50:50 volume ratio. Rheological properties of the pastes were measured in both rotatory and oscillatory modes. The washout behavior and in vitro apatite formation of the pastes were determined by soaking them in simulated body fluid under dynamic situation for 14 days. The proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of MG-63 osteoblastic cells were also determined using extracts of the pastes. All pastes could be easily injected from the standard syringes with different tip diameters. All pastes exhibited visco-elastic character, but a nonthixotropic paste was obtained using hyaluronic acid in which the loss modulus was higher than the storage modulus. The thixotropy and storage modulus were increasingly improved by adding/using sodium alginate as mixing liquid. Moreover, the pastes in which the liquid phase was sodium alginate or mixture of hyaluronic acid and 10% sodium alginate solution revealed better apatite formation ability and washout resistance than that made of hyaluronic acid alone. No cytotoxicity effects were observed by extracts of the pastes on osteoblasts but better alkaline phosphatase activity was found for the pastes containing hyaluronic acid. Overall, injectable biocomposites can be produced by mixing bioactive glass nanoparticles and sodium alginate/hyaluronic acid polymers. They are potentially useful for hard and even soft tissues treatments.