Bioactive Glass Flakes as Innovative Fillers in Chitosan Membranes for Guided Bone Regeneration

Herein, novel bioactive glass flakes (BGFs) (45S5 composition), obtained by compression in the liquid phase in a stirred media mill, are combined with chitosan (CS) to develop composite membranes using solvent casting for guided bone regeneration (GBR). The incorporation of BGFs endows CS membranes with superior bioactivity as evidenced by rapid hydroxyapatite formation after 3 days of immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF). Moreover, the addition of BGFs reduces the swelling ratio of CS membranes, beneficial for GBR applications. The swelling behavior can also be modulated by tuning the added amount of BGFs. In vitro cell studies indicate the noncytotoxicity of composite membranes toward osteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1, although the presence of BGFs slightly reduces the cell viability compared to pure CS membranes. The incorporation of BGFs also improves the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells as indicated by the enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity. The results show the feasibility of BGFs as anisotropic bioactive fillers in polymeric matrices. In conclusion, the developed CS-BGF composite membranes show promising potential as a novel material for GBR.