Synthesis and characterization of Ga-containing silicate based sol-gel and mesoporous sol-gel bioactive glasses loaded with curcumin

1.Introduction Silicate based bioactive glasses are synthesized with the aim to obtain materials usable as bone fillers for orthopedic and maxillo facial surgery1. The studied glasses are sol-gel and mesoporous sol-gel based on molar composition 15CaO-5P2O5-80SiO2 modified with Ga2O3; moreover, curcumin was loaded on these glasses. In fact, these materials may be also used as vehicles for the release of metal ions (Ga with anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties2) and bio-molecules (curcumin, an anti-oxidant and anti-cancer agent3). 2.Results and Discussion Different techniques (UV-Vis, XRD, SEM, NMR, DTA, AE, ICP) are used to characterize glasses, the absorption and release of curcumin. The results showed that, due to higher external surface, sol-gel glasses adsorb more curcumin with respect to mesoporous; in this last case, another possibility of adsorption is by means of mesoporous, but its diameter is smaller than the dimension of curcumin molecules. The amount of curcumin uptaken is higher for Ga-containing glasses. All these materials, tested in water for 72 hours, show an initial (6 hours) fast and almost complete release of curcumin; afterwards the release is more slow. The amount of curcumin released from Ga-containing glasses is lower than the Ga-free ones. The amount of gallium present in solution is greater for the systems with curcumin, in this way Ga ions in solution could be act as antibacterial and antioxidant agents.