Selective delivery of antibiotics and protein by eggshell derived apatitic nanocarriers

Eggshells are attractive natural source for the preparation of hydroxyapatite (HA) bone substitute and drug carrier. Eggshells also contain trace elements such as Mg, Na, Si etc., essential for biomineralization. Hence, selectivity of eggshell derived calcium deficient HA (ECDHA) nanoparticles for protein and drug delivery was studied. ECDHA with a Ca/P molar ratio of 1.5 was prepared and release studies of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drug, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein were evaluated. ECDHA carriers were found to have selective preference for antibiotics loading and BSA delivery compared to synthetic samples. ECDHA thus seem to have an optimal composition for delivery of antibiotics and protein for bone regenerative applications.