Incorporation and delivery of an organoselenium antioxidant from a brushite cement

An inflammatory reaction occurs following biomaterial implantation in the body, which produce toxic byproducts such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although ROS is required to clear the wound, excessive ROS can damage the tissue around the implant site, eventually leading to implant failure. One approach to control the inflammatory response is to incorporate an antioxidant into the biomaterial in order to scavenge ROS produced by activated phagocytes. In the present study, an organoselenium antioxidative compound was incorporated into a brushite cement, with the goal of scavenging ROS generated from activated primary human mononuclear leukocytes (MNCs), in vitro. The effect of the antioxidant on the physical properties of brushite cement, and its release from the cement were investigated via compressive strength, setting time, phase composition, and UV spectroscopy analysis. The physical properties of brushite remained unchanged following incorporation of the antioxidant. The antioxidant was slowly released from the cement, following a non-Fickian transport mechanism, with approximately 60% of the loaded antioxidant released over five days. The released antioxidant was then tested for its ability to scavenge ROS released by MNCs using the luminol amplified chemiluminescence assay. The results show that antioxidative released at both early stages (24 h) and late stages (120 h) retained its scavenging capacity and effectively reduced ROS production. These results indicate that brushite cements loaded with organoselenium compounds can modulate ROS production after implantation and potentially modulate the inflammatory response to improve device integration.