Chronic infections are one of the most serious adverse outcomes of prosthetic surgery. Prosthetic revision surgery using a bone cement loaded with antibiotics between the two stages of the surgery is commonly performed. However, this method often fails to reach the minimum inhibitory concentration and promotes antibiotic resistance, thus emphasizing the need for improving the current available therapies.
Materials and methods: In this study, we performed a study of the in vivo response of a polymer-based construct of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) in the solid phase of Palacos R® in combination with vancomycin, daptomycin, and/or linezolid. To test its effectiveness, we applied an in vivo model, using both histological and immunohistochemical analyses to study the bone tissue.
Results: The presence of PLGA in the combination of vancomycin with daptomycin showed the most promising results regarding the preservation of bone cytoarchitecture and S. aureus elimination. Conversely, the combination of vancomycin plus linezolid was associated with a loss of bone cytoarchitecture, probably related to an increased macrophage response and inefficient antimicrobial activity.
Conclusions: The modification of Palacos R® bone cement with PLGA microspheres and its doping with the antibiotic daptomycin in combination with vancomycin improve the tissue response to bone infection.
Keywords: bone; infection; polymer-based construct of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA); preclinical model.