Amel Garfa

Visiting researcher from University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

Essential oils incorporation in mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGN) to enhance their biological activity for bone regeneration applications

Supervisors in Erlangen: Ms. Marcela Arango Ospina, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Supervisor in Tunisia: Prof. Monia Hichri

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are used in different biomedical applications such as wound care, dental treatment, synthetic bone substitutes, etc. To further accelerate BG’s bioactivity and biodegradability, mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) with high surface area and ordered porosity have been developed [1,2].

The narrow pore size distribution, and the controlled mesostructure of MBGNs ensure a controlled and sustained release of drugs or growth factors over a long time when they are used as drug delivery carriers. The simultaneous release of ions and therapeutic agents could lead to a favorable synergistic biological effect. Thus, in this study, we investigate the synthesis of silica-calcia based MBGNs and incorporate different essential oils to combat antibiotic-resistant bone infections and prevent damage caused by oxidative stress.

[1] Kargozar, S.; Montazerian, M.; Hamzehlou, S.; Kim, H. W.; Baino, F. Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses: Promising Platforms for Antibacterial Strategies. Acta Biomater. 2018, 81, 1−19.
[2] Liang, Q.; Hu, Q.; Miao, G.; Yuan, B.; Chen, X. A Facile Synthesis of Novel Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles with various Morphologies and Tunable Mesostructure by Sacrificial Liquid Template Method. Mater. Lett. 2015, 148, 45−49