Optimization of fluoride-containing bioactive glasses as a novel scolicidal agent adjunct to hydatid surgery.

We have presented a novel scolicidal agent made from fluoride-containing bioactive glass (FBG). The samples were characterized by XRD and the ion release behavior of the samples was evaluated at 37°C. The scolicidal activity, cellular response and antibacterial activity and biocompatibility of the different concentrations of the FBG (ranging from 0.5 to 2 mg ml(-1)) were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The results showed an easy diffusion of the fluoride through the glass matrix in an F concentration-dependent manner. The FBG showed an intensive scolicidal property, so that toxicity effect begun from 5 min and the samples with 20, 10, 5 and 0% fluoride showed 98±2, 93±5.8, 76.2±6 and 5.8±1.7% scolicidal activity, respectively, after 8h exposing time. Our data revealed that scolicidal activity of the FBG increased with the increase of F ratio and concentrations of the bioactive glass. On the other hand, all the synthesized FBG samples found to be cyto-biocompatible when tested in vitro (MTT and LDH assays) and in vivo (no significant infiltration of inflammatory cells compared with control, p>0.05), and antibacterial against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results demonstrated that the synthesized FBG might have a potential application in prevention of post-surgery infections, especially hydatidosis.