Mechanical properties of epirubicin-calcium sulfate bone cement composite and its sustained drug release in rats
LIU Peng
ZHAN Chunrui
LI Bo
YU Yongzhi
Abstract：Objective To explore the mechanical properties of the epirubicin-calcium sulfate bone cement compos-ite and its sustained drug release in rats,and to provide the evidence for the optimization of bone repair materials loaded with antitumor drugs.Methods Using calcium sulfate as the matrix,the groups were divided according to the different proportions of epirubicin added:blank control group(no drug),0.2%group(2 mg of epirubicin added per 1 g of calcium sulfate),0.5%group(5 mg of epirubicin added per 1 g of calcium sulfate),and 1.0%group(10 mg of epirubicin added per 1 g of calcium sulfate).We added 0.5 mL of ultrapure water to each group and mixed into the pastes to prepare com-posite bone cement composites.An electronic universal testing machine was used to test the compressive and flexural strength of the composite to observe its mechanical properties.Composite modules with a 1.0%drug load were implanted beside the femurs of SD rats.Venous blood was collected on postoperative day 1,14,and 30,and the concentration of epi-rubicin in the serum was determined using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the drug release in rats.Results The compressive and flexural strength followed the order:0.5%group>1%group>0.2%group and blank con-trol group(all P<0.05).No statistically significant differences were observed in compressive and flexural strength between the 0.2%group and the blank control group(all P>0.05).The serum epirubicin concentration in rats was the highest on day 1,significantly decreased on day 14(P<0.05),and further declined on day 30,but there was the no statistically sig-nificant difference between day 30 and day 14(P>0.05).Conclusions The mechanical strength of the composite of epi-rubicin-calcium sulfate bone cement increases first and then decreases with the increase of drug concentration.In rats,it achieves a drug release pattern characterized by an initial rapid release followed by a sustained release.It possesses poten-tial value for local antitumor applications.
Keywords：epirubicincalcium sulfate bone cementcomposite materialmechanical propertiessustained drug releasemalignant bone tumor
Publication Date：2025-11-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-09(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 53-56 )