AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025490505
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

3D printed nHAP/PLA scaffold combining simvastatin-loaded HEMA/SBMA hydrogel for accelerated bone repair

Yang Qu1,2† Ya’nan Wang3† Weiqing Kong4 Xiaofan Du1 Jianyi Li1 Yukun Du1 Guanghui Gu1* Yongming Xi1*
Show Less
1 Department of Spinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China
2 Department of Orthopedics and Trauma, Peking University People's Hospital, Key Labora-tory of Trauma and Neural Regeneration, Ministry of Education and National Center for Trauma Medicine, Beijing, China
3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Southeast University,Xuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical University, 199Jiefang South Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China
4 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Southeast University,Xuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical University, 199Jiefang South Road, Xuzhou, jiangsu
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received: 2 December 2025 | Accepted: 1 January 2026 | Published online: 14 January 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Bone defects resulting from trauma, infection, or tumor resection often exceed the self-healing capacity of bone tissue, requiring bioactive and mechanically robust repair materials. In this study, a composite scaffold was developed via in-situ polymerization of a hydroxyethyl methacrylate/sulfobetaine methacrylate (HEMA/SBMA, abbreviated as HMSM) hydrogel with a 3D-printed nano-hydroxyapatite/polylactic acid (nHAP/PLA, abbreviated as NP) gradient scaffold to achieve controlled simvastatin (SIM) delivery and enhanced osteogenesis. The HMSM hydrogel served as a hydrophilic and biocompatible matrix, while the NP scaffold provided mechanical strength and structural support. SIM was incorporated into the hydrogel–scaffold composite (SIM@HMSM/NP) to establish a sustained drug-release system. The composite exhibited a smooth microstructure, uniform pore distribution, and a gradient architecture mimicking native bone. Mechanical testing demonstrated improved compressive strength compared with individual components, and in vitro studies revealed stable SIM release over 24 days with a degradation profile compatible with bone regeneration. The SIM@HMSM/NP showed excellent cytocompatibility, promoted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, and significantly enhanced bone formation in a rat calvarial defect model. These findings suggest that the SIM@HMSM/NP scaffold provides a promising strategy for sustained drug delivery and accelerated bone regeneration in critical-sized bone defects.

Keywords
Bone tissue engineering
3D printing
Hydrogel–scaffold composite
Simvastatin
HE-MA/SBMA hydrogel
nHAP/PLA scaffold
Funding
The authors thank the financial support from the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Prov-ince (No. tstp20250511)
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests
Share
Back to top
International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing