Antibacterial effect of novel biodegradable and bioresorbable PLDA/Mg composites

Polylactic acid/Mg composites have been recently proposed for biodegradable osteosynthesis devices because, with regards to the neat polymer, they combine an enhanced biocompatibility and bioactivity with better mechanical properties, particularly creep strength. A question still arises about their bacterial behavior. For this purpose, composites of poly-L-D-lactic acid (PLDA) loaded with 1 and 10 wt.% of Mg microparticles were evaluated using Staphylococcus epidermidis, with special emphasis on the study of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation. During biofilm formation the bacteria viability of the composites decreased up to 65.3% with respect to PLDA. These antibacterial properties do not compromise the cytocompatibility of the material as the composites enhanced the viability of mesenchymal stem cells and their osteogenic commitment. These findings provide an important added value to the biodegradable and biocompatible PLDA/Mg composites for the manufacture of osteosynthesis devices.This work was supported by Grants MAT2012‐37736‐C05‐01-03-04-05 from the ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ (MINECO, Spain); PI15/00752 and PI15/01118 from Instituto Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)-Fondos FEDER (MINECO-AES, Spain); GR15025 from the ‘Consejería de Economía, Ciencia e Innovación’ (Junta de Extremadura, Spain); S2013/MIT-2862 from Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (CAM) and FEDER and CIBER‐BBN funds. LS is supported by a Miguel Servet contract from ISCIII-FEDER (CP11/00022). NV is supported by Program I2 from CAM.Peer Reviewe