Preparation and evaluation of BCP‐CSD‐agarose composite microsphere for bone tissue engineering

Abstract Composite microspheres have been widely investigated over the years in order to achieve a sound scaffold with suitable combinations of biodegradable polymers and bioactive ceramics/glasses for bone tissue engineering. In our present study, composite microspheres were prepared for the first time by agarose (1 wt %) enforcement with combination of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP; 20 wt %) and calcium sulfate dehydrate (CSD; 20 wt %), and analyzed for use in bone regeneration. The one‐step fabrication process revealed spheres of sizes ranging from 50 to 1000 μm of BCP‐CSD contents effectively formed by natural solidification of agarose matrix, which is very simple, time and cost‐effective, and could allow for large scale production. Furthermore, the BCP‐CSD‐agarose composite microspheres were tested in in vitro and in vivo for bone‐forming properties in order to assess their biocompatibility. The rapid diffusion of Ca²⁺ions from CSD of the composite microspheres through agarose matrix potentially increased interactivity with microenvironment and gave support for cell adhesion and proliferation. Moreover, in vivo result demonstrated that fabricated microspheres promoted neovascularization, stimulated fibroblast cell proliferation, and host cell migration occurred throughout the defects and within microspheres, ultimately guided to new bone formation. The developed composite microspheres with novel approach could have potential for bone regeneration application. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 2263–2272, 2019.