Abstract: Application of “bioactive materials”, as a modified version of biomaterials, can optimize the response of the biological system due to their surface reactivity and formation of strong interactions with the adjacent tissue upon implantation. However, choosing an appropriate bioactive material that suits to the application and provides the desired mechanical, physical, chemical and biological functionality, as well as understanding the aspects of biological reaction to the biomaterial, in particular immune response, it plays a key role in successful integration of the implant. In this review, we will discuss different bioactive materials including bioactive ceramics, polymers and composites and their applications in drug delivery and scaffold preparation in order to provide an adequate introduction to the recent studies. Considering the necessity of regulation of implant fate for higher biocompatibility, the comprehensive overview to the immune response will be reviewed with the focus on representing the cell-biomaterial interactions and more importantly, the inflammatory responses. Ultimately, we will also discuss about different approaches namely as immunomodulation to elicit the desired physiochemical properties and mimicking native cellular response using bioactive compounds, functionalizing the implant surface with active molecules and alteration of the surface morphology. With better understanding of bioactive materials and their interactions with body, more novel biomaterials representing desired properties can be designed.

Key words: implant, bioactive materials, cell-biomaterial interactions, immune response, surface engineering