Antibacterial Activity and Cyto-/Tissue-Compatibility of Micro-/Nano-Structured Titanium Decorated with Silver Nanoparticles

Implant-associated infections are a major factor contributing to graft failure. Preventing infection by inhibiting bacterial adhesion to implants is critical for successful orthopedic surgery. In this work, we fabricated a novel implant material and evaluated its performance in terms of inhibiting bacterial growth and adhesion. Micro/nano-structured titanium (MNT) was prepared by the micro-arc oxidization. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with an average diameter of 10 nm were synthesized via a chemical reduction method and immobilized onto MNT to generate an AgNP-decorated MNT (AgMN). It showed high antibacterial efficacy against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus without cytotoxicity to NIH/3T3 fibroblast-like cells. AgMN implanted in rats inhibited S. aureus growth and adhesion and elicited a milder inflammatory response than MNT. Moreover, implanted AgMN had no adverse effect on the morphology and structure of attached host cells after 1 day. These results indicate that using AgMN as an implant material can reduce the risk of infection without toxic effects to the host.