Protein-mediated mineralization of edaravone into injectable, pH-sensitive microspheres used for potential minimally invasive treatment of osteomyelitis

Abstract

Osteomyelitis, an infection within bone, is difficult to treat. Conventional surgical treatment causes severe pain in the patients physically and mentally. There is an urgent need to develop injectable nano- and/or micro-medicine for minimally invasive treatment of osteomyelitis. In this study, we provide a facile protocol of protein-mediated mineralization of edaravone into injectable, pH-sensitive CaCO₃ microspheres used for potential minimally invasive treatment of osteomyelitis. The mineral part of the composite microspheres is used to neutralize the acidic environment caused by bacterial infection. At the same time, edaravone encapsulated in CaCO₃ microspheres is released to resist oxidative stress. The drug loading efficiency (DLE) and the drug loading content (DLC) are 89.4% and 19.2%, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the prepared microspheres can protect and promote the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts under stimulation of H₂O₂ at lower pH.