Abstract
Changes occurring at the surface of a calcium phosphate coating when in contact with osteoblasts versus those in acellular solutions were analyzed. The coating studied is one with a well-documented extensive effect on short- term bone growth stimulation. Precipitates associated with original crystals and organized in a weblike structure were observed after a 3-week culture with osteoblasts. The precipitates were identified as carbonated hydroxyapatite (c-HA). In contrast, no significant surface changes were detected after immersion in an acellular serum-containing solution. However, in an acellular serum-free solution simulating the ionic composition of plasma, precipitates, identified as c-HA, were abundantly formed. Dissolution of the original coating preceded precipitation. The data support the hypothesis that dissolution of synthetic calcium phosphate ceramics is an initial step in their transformation to a biologically equivalent apatite, and suggest that both solution-mediated (dissolution-precipitation) and cell- mediated mechanisms are involved in the surface transformation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 234-243 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Biomedical Materials Research |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1998 |
Keywords
- Calcium phosphates
- Ceramics
- In vitro
- Surface reactions
- Surface transformations