Surface bioactivation of Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) by magnesium chondroitin sulfate (MgCS) as orthopedic implants for reconstruction of skeletal defects

Polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is clinically used as a bio-implant for the healing of skeletal defects. However, the osseointegration of clinical-sized bone grafts remains limited. In this study, surface-porous PEEK was created by using a sulfonation method and a metal-polysaccharide complex MgCS was introduced on the surface of sulfonated PEEK to form MgCS@SPEEK. The as-prepared MgCS@SPEEK was found to have a porous surface with good hydrophilicity and bioactivity . This was followed by an investigation into whether MgCS loaded onto sulfonated PEEK surfaces could promote osseointegration and angiogenesis . The in vitro results showed that MgCS@SPEEK had a positive effect on reducing the expression levels of inflammatory genes and promoting osteogenesis and angiogenesis-related genes expression levels . Furthermore, porous MgCS@SPEEK was implanted in critical-sized rat tibial defects for in vivo evaluation of osseointegration. The micro-computed tomography evaluation results revealed substantial bone formation at 4 and 8 weeks. Collectively, these findings indicate that MgCS@SPEEK could provide improved osseointegration and an attractive strategy for orthopaedic applications.