Hierarchically porous surface of PEEK/nMCS composite created by femtosecond laser and incorporation of resveratrol exhibiting antibacterial performances and osteogenic activity in vitro

Abstract To further improve the surface properties of polyetheretherketone (PEEK)/nanoporous magnesium calcium silicate (nMCS) composite (PMC), hierarchically porous surface of PMC (PMCF) were created by femtosecond laser, and resveratrol (RV) was incorporated into the porous surface of PMCF (RV@PMCF). Compared to PMC with flat surface, PMCF contained not only two types of micropores with different sizes (around 20 μm and 0.5 μm) but also nanopores (around 4 nm), which exhibited remarkably increase in surface roughness and protein adsorption. In addition, PMCF displayed a slow-release of RV while PMC showed a burst-release of RV into cell cultured medium. Moreover, compared with PMC and PMCF, RV@PMCF with antibacterial performances inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus thanks to the release of RV. In addition, compared with PMC, PMCF and RV@PMCF significantly promoted adhesion and proliferation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC). Furthermore, compared with PMCF, RV@PMCF obviously enhanced the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation as well as bone related genes expressions of BMSC. The results demonstrated that PMCF with hierarchically porous surface and incorporating of RV displayed antibacterial performances and osteogenic activity in vitro, Therefore, as a drug-loaded implant, RV@PMCF with good cytocompatibility would have a big potential for applications in orthopaedic fields.