Preclinical study reveals accelerated bone repair from conductive zinc implant coatings in rats, suggesting a viable strategy for biodegradable orthopedic devices.
Key Points
To develop a multifunctional, conductive hydrogel coating for biodegradable zinc implants that mitigates rapid corrosion and orchestrates neuro-osteogenic coupling to enhance bone regeneration.
Fabricated a metal-organic framework (MOF)-mineralized conductive hydrogel coating incorporating polypyrrole nanoparticles onto pure zinc substrates.
Assessed in vitro degradation kinetics, ion release profiles, and neuro-osteogenic differentiation using co-cultures of Schwann cells and mesenchymal stem cells.
Evaluated bone regeneration, osseointegration, and peri-implant innervation in vivo within a rat bone defect model over an 8-week period.
The coating reduced the in vitro corrosion volume ratio of zinc substrates by approximately 53.23% following 14 days of immersion.
Schwann cell and mesenchymal stem cell co-culture on coated substrates produced a 257% increase in alkaline phosphatase activity and a 222% increase in mineralized nodule formation relative to stem cell mono-culture.
In vivo implantation achieved a 79.46% new bone volume fraction at 8 weeks post-implantation, accompanied by enhanced peri-implant innervation and osseointegration.