Nanosilver-loaded PMMA bone cement doped with different bioactive glasses – evaluation of cytocompatibility, antibacterial activity, and mechanical properties

Nanosilver-loaded PMMA bone cement (BC-AgNp) is a novel cement developed as a replacement for conventional cements. Despite its favorable properties and antibacterial activity, BC-AgNp still lacks biodegradability and bioactivity. Hence, we investigated doping with bioactive glasses (BGs) to create a new bioactive BC characterized by time-varying porosity and gradual release of AgNp. The BC Cemex was used as the base material and modified simultaneously with the AgNp and BGs: melted 45S5 and 13-93B3 glasses with various particle sizes and sol-gel derived SiO₂/CaO microparticles. The effect of BG addition was examined by microscopic analysis, an assessment of setting parameters, wettability, FTIR and UV-VIS spectroscopy, mechanical testing, and hemo- and cytocompatibility and antibacterial efficiency studies. The results show that it is possible to incorporate various BGs into BC-AgNp, which leads to different properties depending on the type and size of BGs. The smaller particles of melted BGs showed higher porosity and better antibacterial properties with the moderate deterioration of mechanical properties. The sol-gel derived BGs, however, displayed a tendency for agglomeration and random distribution in BC-AgNp. The BGs with greater solubility more efficiently improve the antibacterial properties of BC-AgNp. Besides, the unreacted MMA monomer release could negatively influence the cellular response. Despite that, cements doped with different BGs are suitable for medical applications.