Hydroxyapatite/Alginate/Pluronic® biocomposite scaffolds for alendronate delivery in osteoporosis.

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
02-095	Rodrigo Fernando Costa Marques	Marques, R.F.(Universidade Estadual Paulista); da Costa, T.P.(Universidade Estadual Paulista); Jafelicci Junior, M.(Universidade Estadual Paulista); Engel, E.(Institue for Bioengineering of Catalonia); Amodio, S.P.(Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia);	Currently, with increasing population life expectancy and changes in lifestyle, osteoporosis has increased significantly. People with osteoporosis have low osteoregenerative capacity when bone grafts are applied. Thus, to develop a material capable of releasing anti-osteoporotic agents in the early stage of bone regeneration will inhibit osteoclasts, favoring the action of osteoblasts. Hydroxyapatite (HA) grafts with alginate hydrogels can be prepared by various cross-linking methods, and their structural similarity to extracellular matrices of living tissues allows applications in bone regeneration. Porous HA grafts with alginates and Pluronic® were studied for alendronate release. Alendronate is an anti-osteoporotic drug of the bisphosphonate class, widely used in bone disorders [1-3]. Two samples were prepared, one with HA+Alginate+Pluronic® (HAGEL) and other with HA+Alginate+Pluronic® with alendronate (HAGELAL). The performed analysis of alkaline phosphatase activity of mesenchymal cells and scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the samples may be inducing cell differentiation in osteoblasts, especially the HAGELAL sample which has alendronate. The results suggest that the biocomposite developed in this work, besides inhibiting the action of osteoclast, stimulated the formation of osteoblasts. This behavior indicates the potential of the material developed for applications in bone regeneration of people with osteoporosis.
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