Tantalum-Containing Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Powder For Hemostasis

This study evaluates the hemostatic properties of tantalum-containing mesoporous bioactive glasses (Ta-MBGs) through a suite ofin-vitromethods: hemolysis percentage, zeta potential, blood coagulation assays (Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time - APTT and Prothrombin Time - PT) and cytotoxicity tests. Five compositions of Ta-MBG, withxmol% Ta(2)O(5)added to the glass series (80-x)SiO2-15CaO-5P(2)O(5)-xTa(2)O(5)wherex=0 (0Ta),x=0.5 (0.5Ta),x=1 (1Ta),x=5 (5Ta), andx=10 (10Ta) mol%, were synthesised. The hemostatic potential of all the Ta-MBGs was confirmed by their negative zeta potential (-23 to -31 mV), which enhances the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation. The hemolysis percentages of all Ta-MBGs except 10Ta showed statistically significant reductions compared to the same experiments carried out both in the absence of a sample ('no treatment' group) and in the presence of 10Ta. These observations validate the consideration of Ta-MBGs as hemostatic agents as they do not cause significant lysis of red blood cells. Cytotoxicity analysis revealed that Ta-MBGs had no effect on bovine fibroblast viability. Furthermore, a reduction in both APTT (a test to evaluate the intrinsic pathway of coagulation) and PT (a test to evaluate the extrinsic pathway) signified enhancement of hemostasis: 5Ta caused a significant reduction in APTT compared to 'no treatment', 1Ta and 10Ta and a significant reduction in PT compared to 0Ta. Therefore, we conclude that 5mol% of Ta optimised the hemostatic properties of these mesoporous bioactive glasses.