We report a one-pot plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) strategy for forming a multi-element oxide layer on the titanium surface using complex electrolytes containing Na2HPO4, Ca(OH)2, (NH2)2CO, Na2SiO3, CuSO4, and KOH compounds. For even better bone implant ingrowth, PEO coatings were additionally loaded with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). The samples were tested in vivo in a mouse craniotomy model. Tests for bactericidal and fungicidal activity were carried out using clinically isolated multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) K261, E. coli U20, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) CSA154 bacterial strains, and Neurospora crassa (N. crassa) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) D2528/20 fungi. The PEO-Cu coating effectively inactivated both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at low concentrations of Cu2+ ions: minimal bactericidal concentration for E. coli and N. crassa (99.9999%) and minimal inhibitory concentration (99.0%) for S. aureus were 5 ppm. For all studied bacterial and fungal strains, PEO-Cu coating completely prevented the formation of bacterial and fungal biofilms. PEO and PEO-Cu coatings demonstrated bone remodeling and moderate osteoconductivity in vivo, while BMP-2 significantly enhanced osteoconduction and osteogenesis. The obtained results are encouraging and indicate that Ti-based materials with PEO coatings loaded with BMP-2 can be widely used in customized medicine as implants for orthopedics and cranio-maxillofacial surgery.
Keywords: antibacterial and antifungal activity; bioactivity; coatings; osteointegration; plasma electrolytic oxidation.