Biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity of zinc(II) doped hydroxyapatite, synthesized by hydrothermal method

Abstract

In order to obtain multifunctional materials with good biocompatibility and antimicrobial effect, hydroxyapatite (HAp) doped with Zn2+ was synthesized by hydrothermal method. Powders with different content of zinc ions were synthesized and compared with undoped HAp to investigation of Zn2+ ion influence on the antimicrobial activity of HAp. Analyses of undoped and Zn2+-doped powders before and after thermal treatment at 1200ºC were performed by SEM and XRD. Antimicrobial effects of powders were examined in relation to Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans in liquid medium. The results showed that the obtained powders have good antimicrobial activity, but higher antimicrobial activities of powders doped with Zn2+ were observed after annealing at 1200°C. For powders annealed at 1200°C in vitro biocompatibility tests MTT and DET with MRC-5 fibroblast cells in liquid medium were carried out. Based on MTT and DET tests it was shown that powders do not have a significant cytotoxic effect, which was confirmed by SEM analysis of MRC-5 fibroblast cells after theirs in vitro contact with powders. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 45019 and FP7-REGPOT-2009-1 NANOTECH FTM]

Keywords

• HAp
• Zn
• α-TCP
• biocide
• MTT assay
• MRC-5