Preparation and characterisation of a novel polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite/graphene oxide/aspirin drug-loaded biomimetic composite scaffold

Abstract

Biomimetic scaffolds loaded with drugs can be applied in bone tissue engineering. In this study, a series of three-dimensional polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite/graphene oxide (PLA/HA/GO) drug-loaded biomimetic composite scaffolds with different concentrations of aspirin (ASA; 0–50 wt%) was successfully prepared using the phase separation technique. ASA addition increased the scaffold pore size without destroying the biomimetic structure. The hydrophilicity of a PLA/HA/GO/ASA drug-loaded biomimetic composite scaffold is linked to the component and structure of the prepared scaffold. The porosity can reach >85% in all samples. A test to assess the apatite-formation ability confirmed that the prepared composite scaffold had good bioactivity and could induce the formation of spherical hydroxyapatites. The haemolysis rate, platelet adhesion and in vitro cell proliferation experiments showed that the prepared scaffold had good haemocompatibility and cytocompatibility. However, ASA addition demonstrated an inhibitory effect on MC3T3-E1 cells. The prepared PLA/HA/GO/ASA drug-loaded biomimetic composite scaffold revealed good sustained drug-release performance. Hence, different concentrations of ASA can be loaded onto the scaffold on the basis of therapy requirements.