Development of hydroxyapatite bone cement for controlled drug release via tetracycline hydrochloride

The purpose of this work was to study the preparation and characterization of drug–hydroxyapatite cement. The hydroxyapatite (HA) cement has been synthesized by using tricalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous with sodium hydrogen phosphate as liquid phase. The effect of added tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as drug on final phases, microstructure, setting behaviour and compressive strength has been studied. The drug release rate was first order within the first day and then was zero order. No obvious difference could be detected in XRD patterns of the TCH–HA cement with various amounts of drug. By increasing the drug concentration, mechanical strength of cement was decreased and its setting time was increased. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of using HA cement as a carrier for drug delivery.