An Injectable In-Situ Conducting Thermosensitive Gel for Controlled Delivery of Vancomycin in Osteomyelitis Treatment and Bone Regeneration

A novel injectable, conductive and thermosensitive gel composed of chitosan/chitosan grafted polyaniline (Chi-g-PANI) was synthesized. The prepared gels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a porous, interconnecting and netlike architecture. The conductivity of chitosan and Chi-g-PANI incorporated gels were 11.45±2.67 and 49.76±3.56 μS, respectively (P < 0.05). Both gels showed sustained release of vancomycin (67.87±1.31 for chitosan gel; 65.78±1.93 for Chi-g-PANI incorporated gel) over a period of 28 days. Cytotoxicity and LDH activity investigations indicated the nontoxic nature of the gels. In vitro cell culture was performed by using MC3T3-E1and C2C12 cells which indicated that these gels were suitable for cellular attachment and proliferation. Primary osteogenic markers, like ALP and calcium production, were enhanced when MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured along with the gels. Thus, these results indicate that the synthesized gels could be a promising injectable material for osteomyelitis (OM) treatment and bone regeneration.