Nanocrystal hydroxyapatite carrying traditional Chinese medicine for osteogenic differentiation

Developing biomaterials with high osteogenic properties is crucial for achieving rapid bone repair and regeneration. This study focuses on the application of nanocrystal hydroxyapatite (nHAp) as a drug carrier to load Fu Yuan Huo Xue Decoction (FYHXD), a traditional Chinese medicine derived from Angelica sinensis, aiming to achieve improved efficacy in treating bone diseases such as osteoporosis. Through a facile physical adsorption approach, the FTIR result emerges new characteristic absorption peaks in the range of 1200–950 cm⁻¹, proving the successful absorption of FYHXD onto the nHAp with a loading efficiency of 39.76 %. The modified nHAp exhibits a similar shape to the bone-derived hydroxyapatite nanocrystals, and their diameter increases slightly after modification. The drug release assay implies the rapid release of FYHXD in the first 10 h, followed by a continuously slow release within 70 h. The developed nHAp effectively enhances the adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro, and significantly promotes their osteogenic differentiation, as indicated by increased alkaline phosphatase activity. Overall, the biocomposites hold great promise as active ingredients for integration into bone-associated biomaterials, offering the potential to stimulate spontaneous osteogenesis without requiring exogenous osteogenic factors.