Treating bone defects coupled with pathogen infections poses a formidable challenge to clinical medicine. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop orthopedic implants that provide excellent antibacterial and osteogenic properties. Of the various types, copper-based biomaterials capable of both regenerating bone and fighting infections are an effective therapeutic strategy for bone tissue engineering and therefore have attracted significant research interest. This review examines the advantages of copper-based biomaterials for biological functions and introduces these materials’ antibacterial mechanisms. We summarize current knowledge about the application of copper-based biomaterials with antimicrobial and osteogenic properties in the prevention and treatment of bone infection and discuss their potential uses in the field of orthopedics. By examining both broad and in-depth research, this review functions as a practical guide to developing copper-based biomaterials and offers directions for possible future work.

In recent years, natural deep eutectic solvents have been favored greatly due to their environment friendly, mild biological toxicity and simple biodegradability. Natural deep eutectic solvents gradually applied for the extracting bioactive compounds from natural products efficiently. In this study, 20 natural deep eutectic solvents were prepared and their physical and chemical properties were tested. The ultrasonic-assisted extraction method was used to extract flavonoids from Trollius ledebouri and high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet was applied to examine two main bioactive flavonoids (orientin and vitexin). Compared with traditional solvents (water and 60% ethanol solution), natural deep eutectic solvents composed of L(-)-proline and levulinic acid (molar ratio 1:2) show a super extraction efficiency. On this basis, the response surface method was used to optimize the extraction temperature, extraction time, water contents, and solid-liquid ratio. As a consequence, the extraction temperature 60°C, extraction time 18 min, water content 14% (v/v), and the solid-liquid ratio 48 mL⋅g −1 were chosen as the best extraction process. This study shows that natural deep eutectic solvents can effectively extract flavonoids from T. ledebouri, laying a foundation for the further application of natural deep eutectic solvents to extract bioactive compounds from natural products.

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Bacterial infection is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is easy to cause large-scale diseases. It is an urgent need to develop effective methods for the specific detection and treatment of bacterial infections. Recently, small molecular fluorescent probes, bridging the capability of imaging detection and sterilization, have attracted increasing attention. Fluorescence imaging assays have the benefit of being simple, specific, and fast, which is very advantageous in both in vitro and in vivo bacterial detection. Molecularly fluorophores for theranostics provide advantages of non-invasion, high specificity, and fewer side effects. In this review, we summarize the recent advances and design strategies of small molecular fluorescent probes for both targeted detection and treatment of bacteria. We hope that this review will provide guidance for the development of more effective fluorescent dyes in the future as well as encourage preclinical and clinical studies of phototherapymediated antimicrobial therapy.