Hierarchical antibiotic delivery system based on calcium phosphate cement/montmorillonite-gentamicin sulfate with drug release pathways

Antibiotic-loaded calcium phosphate cement (CPC) has emerged as a promising biomaterial for drug delivery in orthopedics. However, there are problems such as the burst release of antibiotics, low cumulative release ratio, inappropriate release cycle, inferior mechanical strength, and poor anti-collapse properties. In this research, montmorillonite-gentamicin (MMT-GS) was fabricated by solution intercalation method and served as the drug release pathways in CPC to avoid burst release of GS, achieving promoted cumulative release ratios and a release cycle matched the time of inflammatory response. The results indicated that the highest cumulative release ratio and release concentration of GS in CPC/MMT-GS was 94.1 ± 2.8 % and 1183.05 μg/mL, and the release cycle was up to 504 h. In addition, the hierarchical GS delivery system was divided into three stages, and the kinetics followed the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, the zero-order model, and the diffusion-dissolution model, respectively. Meanwhile, the compressive strength of CPC/MMT-GS was up to 51.33 ± 3.62 MPa. Antibacterial results demonstrated that CPC/MMT-GS exhibited excellent in vitro long-lasting antibacterial properties to E. coli and S. aureus. Furthermore, CPC/MMT-GS promoted osteoblast proliferation and exhibited excellent in vivo histocompatibility. Therefore, CPC/MMT-GS has favorable application prospects in the treatment of bone defects with bacterial infections and inflammatory reactions. •MMT-GS was fabricated by solution intercalation and served as release pathway in CPC.•CPC/MMT-GS avoided the burst GS release, achieving a high cumulative release ratio.•The release cycle of GS was consistent with the inflammatory response time.•The mechanism of hierarchical GS release followed the different kinetic models.•CPC/MMT-GS showed long-lasting antibacterial capacity and excellent biocompatibility.