Comparison of antibacterial properties of commercial bone cements and fillers with a zinc-based glass polyalkenoate cement

摘要

Postoperative infection following invasive surgical procedures is a significant cause for concern, particularly in spinal reconstructive surgery. The objective of this study is to compare the antibacterial efficacy of a novel zinc-based glass polyalkenoate cement (Zn-GPC) based on 0.04SrO–0.12CaO–0.36ZnO–0.48SiO₂ glass, to a number of commercially available bone cements and fillers including Simplex P + Tobramycin (S_Tob), Spineplex (S_pine) and Novabone Putty (N_Put). The agar diffusion test was performed on each material against Escherichia coli, Staphlococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphlococcus Aureus. S_Tob was found to produce large inhibition zones in each of the bacteria tested and was statistically significantly higher than any other material. The experimental Zn-GPC (B_TSC) was found to exhibit antibacterial properties in both E. coli and S. epidermidis. Neither S_pine nor N_Put showed any inhibitory effect in any of the bacteria tested. A study was also performed to determine the effect of antibiotic release from S_Tob and Zn-GPC (B_Tob) containing the antibiotic tobramycin (Tob). Antibacterial efficacy was found to increase with respect to maturation with B_Tob, whereas S_Tob was found to decrease significantly over the time period of 0–14 days. The final objective is to investigate any change in agar composition during the agar-diffusion test. Little change was observed for S_Tob as antibiotic release cannot be determined using EDX. There was, however, an increase in Zn levels when analysing B_TSC which suggests that Zn is playing a role in the antimicrobial nature of the Zn-GPC. No significant changes were observed for S_pine or N_Put.