Hydrogels with Antibacterial Properties for Potential Treatment of Periodontitis

Abstract

Periodontitis is a severe inflammation of specialized tissues that support and surround the teeth called periodontium. Periodontal tissues weaken over the passage of time due to the persistent bacterial attack and are difficult to recover once they are lost and damaged. For tissue repair or wound healing, it is important to develop a biomaterial which would have such qualities that make it most suitable for the regeneration of bone tissues along with antibacterial properties. Bioactive glasses (BG) have been studied for their biocompatibility and ability of bone regeneration and hydroxyapatite formation in the body. Moreover, Acetanilide (Drug) has been found to possess analgesic, anti-pyretic as well as anti-bacterial properties and was expected to be better choice for developing a hydrogel in combination with bioactive glass that heals or repair the bone tissue. In this study a thermo-sensitive, anti-bacterial and biodegradable chitosan-based hydrogel was developed by Sol-Gel method using different concentrations of bioactive glass in combination with chitosan and acetanilide. Physiochemical properties of hydrogel were studied through various analytical techniques such as FTIR, XRD and contact angle. Gelation and setting time of bioactive glass based hydrogels were studied and it was observed that gelation and setting time were affected by the different concentrations of bioactive glass. The injectability and flowabililty of hydrogel was also investigated using needles of different gauges. Anti-bacterial potential was analyzed against two bacterial strains, E.coli and S.aureus, in which chitosan based hydrogel with bioactive glass and Acetanilide (CS-BG-Aa) showed effective anti-bacterial activity.