Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel coatings on Ti6Al4V implantable biomaterial with multifunctional antibacterial activity

Today, the treatment of implant-associated infections with conventional mono-functional antibacterial coatings has not been effective enough for a prosperous long-term implantation. Therefore, biomedical industry is making considerable efforts on the development of novel antibacterial coatings with a combination of more than one antibacterial strategies that interact synergistically to reinforce each other. Therefore, in this work hyaluronic acid-based (HA) hydrogel coatings were created on the surface Ti6Al4V biomaterial with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (Ti-HABDDE) and divinyl sulfone (Ti-HADVS) crosslinking agents. Hydrogel coatings displayed an extraordinary in vivo biocompatibility, a remarkable ability to promote cell proliferation, differentiation and mineralization, and capability to sustainedly release drugs. Finally, HA-based hydrogel coatings demonstrated an outstanding multifunctional antibacterial activity: bacteria-repelling (51–55 % of S. aureus and 27–40 % of E. coli), bacteria-killing (82–119 % of S. aureus and 83–87 % of E. coli) and bactericide release killing (drug-loaded hydrogel coatings, R > 2).