Enhancing Bone Tissue Regeneration: Investigating the Role of Bredigite in Improving Osteoconductive Properties of Gelatin/Polylactic Acid Scaffolds

This investigation aims to fabricate scaffolds consisting of gelatin/polylactic acid/bredigite composites for bone tissue regeneration. In this regard, porous scaffolds were created using the freeze-drying technique. To determine the structure and assess the successful synthesis of the samples, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses were conducted. The morphological properties of the polymeric scaffolds and the bredigite (0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt%) incorporated scaffolds were examined using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The evaluation of mechanical properties revealed that the addition of 5 wt% bredigite to the 1Gel3PLA scaffold increased the compressive strength from 0.30-0.35 to > 0.57 MPa. Regarding porosity, decreasing the Gel:PLA ratio from 1:3 to 1:2 while maintaining constant gelatin content increased porosity from 58.3% to 71.4%, and the addition of bredigite consistently decreased porosity across all scaffolds. The in vitro bioactivity assessment, carried out in simulated body fluid (SBF), demonstrated the formation of an apatite layer on the surface of the composite scaffold after immersion in the SBF. The results of the MTT test showed that as the amount of bredigite particles increased to 5 wt%, cell viability also increased across all periods (higher than 90% cell viability). The interaction between cells and scaffolds was examined by culturing human osteoblastic line (MG-63) cells on the scaffolds, revealing a higher proliferation of cells and deposition of minerals on bredigite-containing scaffolds than those without bredigite. These results collectively suggest that the Gel-PLA-5 wt% bredigite scaffold holds promise as an osteoconductive material for applications in regenerating bone tissue.