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Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) offer a promising solution for treating bone defects due to their osteoconductive, injectable, biocompatible, and bone replacement properties. However, their brittle nature restricts their utilization to non-load-bearing applications. In this study, the impact of hybrid silk fibroin (SF) and kappa-carrageenan (k-CG) nanofibers as reinforcements in CPC was investigated. The CPC composite was fabricated by incorporating electrospun nanofibers in 1, 3, and 5% volume fractions. The morphology, mineralization, mechanical properties, setting time, injectability, cell adhesion, and mineralization of the CPC composites were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the addition of the nanofibers improved the CPC mixture, leading to an increase in compressive strength (14.8 ± 0.3 MPa compared to 8.1 ± 0.4 MPa of the unreinforced CPC). Similar improvements were seen in the bending strength and work fracture (WOF). The MC3T3-E1 cell culture experiments indicated that cells attached well to the surfaces of all cement samples and tended to join their adjacent cells. Additionally, the CPC composites showed higher cell mineralization after a culture period of 14 days, indicating that the SF/k-CG combination has potential for applications as a CPC reinforcement and bone cell regeneration promoter.

In the present study, a novel composite bone cement based on calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) and Mg, Sr-containing bioactive glass (BG) as solid phase, and solution of chitosan as liquid phase were developed. The phase composition, morphology, setting time, injectability, viscosity, and cellular responses of the composites with various contents of BG (0, 10, 20, and 30 wt.%) were investigated. The pure calcium sulfate cement was set at approximately 180 min, whereas the setting time was drastically decreased to 6 min by replacing 30 wt.% glass powder for CSH in the cement solid phase. BG changed the microscopic morphology of the set cement and decreased the size and compaction of the precipitated gypsum phase. Replacing the CSH phase with BG increased injection force of the produced cement; however, all the cements were injected at a nearly constant force, lower than 20 N. The viscosity measurements in oscillatory mode determined the shear-thinning behavior of the pastes. Although the viscosity of the pastes increased with increasing BG content, it was influenced by the frequency extent. Pure calcium sulfate cement exhibited some transient cytotoxicity on human-derived bone mesenchymal stem cells and it was compensated by introducing BG phase. Moreover, BG improved the cell proliferation and mineralization of extracellular matrix as shown by calcein measurements. The results indicate the injectable composite cement comprising 70 wt.% CSH and 30 wt.% Mg, Sr-doped BG has better setting, mechanical and cellular behaviors and hence, is a potential candidate for bone repair, however more animal and human clinical evaluations are essential.

In the present study, a novel composite bone cement based on calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) and Mg, Sr-containing bioactive glass (BG) as solid phase, and solution of chitosan as liquid phase were developed. The phase composition, morphology, setting time, injectability, viscosity, and cellular responses of the composites with various contents of BG (0, 10, 20, and 30 wt.%) were investigated. The pure calcium sulfate cement was set at approximately 180 min, whereas the setting time was drastically decreased to 6 min by replacing 30 wt.% glass powder for CSH in the cement solid phase. BG changed the microscopic morphology of the set cement and decreased the size and compaction of the precipitated gypsum phase. Replacing the CSH phase with BG increased injection force of the produced cement; however, all the cements were injected at a nearly constant force, lower than 20 N. The viscosity measurements in oscillatory mode determined the shear-thinning behavior of the pastes. Although the viscosity of the pastes increased with increasing BG content, it was influenced by the frequency extent. Pure calcium sulfate cement exhibited some transient cytotoxicity on human-derived bone mesenchymal stem cells and it was compensated by introducing BG phase. Moreover, BG improved the cell proliferation and mineralization of extracellular matrix as shown by calcein measurements. The results indicate the injectable composite cement comprising 70 wt.% CSH and 30 wt.% Mg, Sr-doped BG has better setting, mechanical and cellular behaviors and hence, is a potential candidate for bone repair, however more animal and human clinical evaluations are essential.

Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) offer a promising solution for treating bone defects due to their osteoconductive, injectable, biocompatible, and bone replacement properties. However, their brittle nature restricts their utilization to non-load-bearing applications. In this study, the impact of hybrid silk fibroin (SF) and kappa-carrageenan (k-CG) nanofibers as reinforcements in CPC was investigated. The CPC composite was fabricated by incorporating electrospun nanofibers in 1, 3, and 5% volume fractions. The morphology, mineralization, mechanical properties, setting time, injectability, cell adhesion, and mineralization of the CPC composites were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the addition of the nanofibers improved the CPC mixture, leading to an increase in compressive strength (14.8 ± 0.3 MPa compared to 8.1 ± 0.4 MPa of the unreinforced CPC). Similar improvements were seen in the bending strength and work fracture (WOF). The MC3T3-E1 cell culture experiments indicated that cells attached well to the surfaces of all cement samples and tended to join their adjacent cells. Additionally, the CPC composites showed higher cell mineralization after a culture period of 14 days, indicating that the SF/k-CG combination has potential for applications as a CPC reinforcement and bone cell regeneration promoter.