Innovative coating strategies for titanium implants: Combining epigallocatechin gallate, zinc ions, and ciprofloxacin to combat infection and promote osseointegration

Bone diseases affect people worldwide and cause serious health problems. One of the ways to treat diseased bones is to remove them and implant artificial implants made of titanium alloys in their place. Despite the good properties of the material from which the implant is made, it does have some drawbacks. One of the most serious is the fact that bacteria can form a biofilm on it, which is very difficult to remove. Therefore the aim of this study was to modify a titanium implant using a polyphenolic layer consisting of EGCG and Zn 2+ ions and antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The obtained materials were examined using various analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–VIS). The hydrophilicity and antioxidant properties of the obtained layer were also investigated. The prepared materials were subjected to antibacterial studies, and their effect on the activity of human fetal osteoblastic cell line (hFOB 1.19) was also examined. The results showed that the applied modifications of pure titanium sample provided antibiofilm activity and at the same time did not negatively impact the biocompatibility of the tested materials.