BEHAVIOR OF HUMAN OSTEOBLASTS CULTURED ON BIOACTIVE GLASS COATINGS

Two new formulations of bioactive glasses were used as coatings on tit anium alloy (TiAl6V4) implants for prosthetic applications in the orth opaedic field. The biocompatibility of these bioglasses, as well as th eir osteoconductive properties, were assessed by employing primary cul tures of human osteoblasts. A nonbioactive glass, the titanium alloy a nd polystyrene surface were used as controls. The results obtained dem onstrated that the two bioglasses elicited a rapid and strong prolifer ative response by osteoblasts, which spread, formed a close layer and then expressed the specific osteoblastic marker i.e. osteocalcin. In c omparison, cells grew on the nonbioactive glass to a much minor extent , similar to that of polystyrene control, showing individual cellular elements not forming a compact sheet, but expressed levels of osteocal cin clearly higher than both the polystyrene control and the two biogl asses. Finally, a very low proliferative rate of osteoblasts and the s ynthesis of hardly detectable osteocalcin amounts were observed with t he titanium alloy. In conclusion, our studies indicate that the new bi oactive glasses are effective in stimulating osteoblast growth and dif ferentiation. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.