The effect of the incorporation of 45S5 bioactive glass (BG) microparticles (mean particle size ≈ 2 µm) on the fabrication and physicochemical properties of alginate dialdehyde-gelatin hydrogel capsules is investigated. The addition of BG particles decreases the hydrogel gelation time by ≈79% and 91% for the samples containing 0.1% w/v and 0.5% w/v BG, respectively. Moreover, it results in increasing average diameter of hydrogel capsules produced via a pressure-driven extrusion technique from about 1000 µm for the samples without BG to about 1700 and 1900 µm for the samples containing BG at concentrations of 0.1% w/v and 0.5% w/v, respectively. The presence of BG particles in the capsules decreases the degradation rate and improves the bioactivity of the materials. The viability of MG-63 cells encapsulated in all samples increases during the first 7 d of cultivation and maintains the same level during 21 d of cultivation. The early cell viability in samples containing BG is lower than that in samples without BG. The results show that 45S5 BG can positively regulate the osteogenic activity of cells incorporated in hydrogel capsules. The fabricated composite capsules exhibit promising potential for cell delivery in bone regeneration applications.
Keywords: bioactive glass; bone cells; cell encapsulation; microcapsules; oxidized alginate.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.