Strontium-doped mesoporous bioactive glass microspheres developed for drug delivering and enhancing the bioactivity of polylactic acid scaffolds

Strontium-doped mesoporous bioactive glass microspheres (Sr-MBGMs) were prepared by sol–gel method for delivering loxoprofen sodium (LX) drug. The loading capacity of the prepared Sr-MBGMs for LX drug was affected by the initial concentration of the drug solution and adsorption time. The LX-loaded Sr-MBGMs obtained under optimum conditions were coated with polydopamine (LX/Sr-MBGMs@PDA) and incorporated into the aminated modified poly-l-lactic acid nanofibrous matrix to develop a functional composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications. The in vitro studies revealed that the incorporation of the LX/Sr-MBGMs@PDA could promote cell proliferation and biomineralization, indicating that the as-developed composite scaffolds possessed an improved cell viability and osteogenic ability.