R. Govindan

In situ synthesis, characterization and in vitro studies of ciprofloxacin loaded hydroxyapatite nanoparticles for the treatment of osteomyelitis

Bioactive materials in combination with antibiotics are widely developed for the treatment of osteomyelitis which play a dual role: as bone substitutes at the affected site and as local drug delivery systems for antibiotic delivery. In the present study, a series of ciprofloxacin loaded hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles with sustained and prolonged release behavior has been synthesized by an in situ precipitation method. The amount of ciprofloxacin loaded on HA nanoparticles can be easily adjusted by changing the initial concentration during the synthesis. It was observed that as the loaded concentration of ciprofloxacin increases the release is sustained and prolonged. The in situ loading of ciprofloxacin onto HA nanoparticles does not significantly affect the bioactivity and cytocompatibility of HA whereas it provides antibacterial activity to HA against S. aureus and E. coli that causes osteomyelitis. Consequently synthesized ciprofloxacin loaded HA nanoparticles can be potential candidates for the treatment of osteomyelitis.

Polymer coated phosphate glass/hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications

The development of bioactive ceramic composite scaffold materials with enhanced mechanical strength has been a topic of great interest in bone tissue engineering. In the present study, phosphate glass/hydroxyapatite (PG/HA) composite scaffold with an open-porous structure (∼89% porosity and pore size in the range 200–500 μm) has been fabricated by polymer foam replication method. In order to enhance the mechanical strength of this scaffold, a polymer coating of alginate, chitosan and gelatin was made on the composite scaffold by immersion method. The polymer coating did not affect the interconnectivity but reduced the porosity of the PG/HA composite scaffold. Biodegradation studies revealed that all the composite scaffolds have undergone significant degradation. But the compressive strength of the gelatin coated scaffold (G-PG/HA) exhibited sevenfold enhancement than the pristine scaffold. The PG/HA and G-PG/HA composite scaffolds revealed excellent biocompatibility with human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells. Hence, the G-PG/HA composite scaffold may be a smart promising scaffold for bone tissue engineering.

Utilization of snail shells to synthesise hydroxyapatite nanorods for orthopedic applications

Snail shells are plentiful in nature and consist of mainly CaCO3. Here they have been effectively utilized to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HA) nanorods by a facile and rapid microwave irradiation method with the help of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a chelating agent. The conversion of snail shells into HA occurs via the formation of a Ca–EDTA complex which subsequently reacted with phosphate at pH ≈ 10 under microwave irradiation. The obtained product consists of B-type carbonated HA nanorods and can be a potential candidate for biomedical applications.

Lantana camara Linn root extract-mediated gold nanoparticles and their in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic potentials

Abstract The Lantana camara Linn root extract derived gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were characterized by Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, fourier transform-infrared, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction pattern and energy dispersive X-ray analyses. In DPPH assay, the inhibitory concentration (IC50) of Au NPs and gallic acid was 24.17 and 5.39 μg/ml, whereas, for cytotoxicity assay, the IC50 of Au NPs was 17.72 and 32.98 μg/ml on MBA-MB-231 and Vero cells, respectively. Thus, the Au NPs possess significant in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic properties which could be considered as potential alternate for the development of anticancer drug in future.