GENERALIZATIONS REGARDING THE PROCESS AND PHENOMENON OF OSSEOINTEGRATION - PART-II - IN-VITRO STUDIES

In this review, the appropriate use of cell culture to evaluate substr ate effects on osteoblast behavior during the process of osseointegrat ion has been considered in the contest of existing reports. The intera ctions of osteoblasts with different substrates can be measured in ter ms of cytotoxicity, attachment, proliferation, and differentiation. Th e osteoblast culture systems that produce an osteoblast matrix opposin g implant material substrates provide one model for evaluating the imp lant-bone inter face. Alterations in osteoblast behavior at different culture substrates ma) reflect clinical determinants of bone formation at these substrates in vivo; however, cell responses in vitro have no t been compared or correlated with in vivo outcomes. Legitimate interp retations of in vitro experiments are discussed in terms of practical, technical, and biologic limitations presented by the cell culture app roach. Cell culture provides access to molecular and cellular informat ion that fosters nanostructural engineering approaches to implant desi gn and significant hypotheses to be tested in vivo. In this way, cell culture offers unique insights into the process and phenomenon of osse ointegration.