Long-Term Prevention of Arthroplasty Infections via Incorporation of Activated AgNbO3 Nanoparticles in PMMA Bone Cement.

We investigated the possibility of loading PMMA bone cement with antimicrobial nanostructured AgNbO3 particles to counter biofilm formation at the cement-tissue interface. We found that a formulation containing (1-4)% AgNbO3 showed high antibacterial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa while not showing any toxicity against THP1 human cell lines. In addition, loading the particles did not impact the mechanical properties of the cement. The results thus obtained illustrate the potential of the approach to replace the current technique of mixing cement with conventional antibiotics, which is associated with shortcomings such as efficacy loss from antibiotic depletion.