Treatment of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head using porous Se@SiO2 nanocomposites to suppress reactive oxygen species

Reducing oxidative stress (ROS) have been demonstrated effective for steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (steroid-induced ONFH). Selenium (Se) plays an important role in suppressing oxidative stress and has huge potential in ONFH treatments. However the Se has a narrow margin between beneficial and toxic effects which make it hard for therapy use in vivo. In order to make the deficiency up, a control release of Se (Se@SiO2) were realized by nanotechnology modification. Porous Se@SiO2 nanocomposites have favorable biocompatibility and can reduced the ROS damage effectively. In vitro, the cck-8 analysis, terminal dexynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) stain and flow cytometry analysis showed rare negative influence by porous Se@SiO2 nanocomposites but significantly protective effect against H2O2 by reducing ROS level (detected by DCFH-DA). In vivo, the biosafety of porous Se@SiO2 nanocomposites were confirmed by the serum biochemistry, the ROS level in serum were significantly reduced and the curative effect were confirmed by Micro CT scan, serum Elisa assay (inflammatory factors), Western blotting (quantitative measurement of ONFH) and HE staining. It is expected that the porous Se@SiO2 nanocomposites may prevent steroid-induced ONFH by reducing oxidative stress.