| Description |
The incidence of bone injuries and defects in the United States has continued to increase in recent years, prompting the need for surgical interventions to repair them [1]. Currently in use are several interventions, autografts, allografts, and manufactured apatites, each with their own benefits and drawbacks [2]. Hydroxyapatite (HA) and fluorapatite (FA) have shown promise as manufactured biomaterials that could be used as surgical implantation devices [3][5][6][7]. In our study, we grew human osteoblasts on HA and FA scaffolding, as well as on a control surface, and measured cell viability using an alamarBlue assay and immunohistochemistry staining for detection of differentiation at 2- and 10-day timepoints. We found that there were no significant growth differences between groups on day 2, with some differentiation on FA and HA shown by immunofluorescent images. At day 10 there was significant difference in growth between the HA and cell drop control, with the cell drop growing more osteoblasts. FA differentiated significantly at day 10, with not much differentiation on HA. From these findings, it was concluded that HA and FA scaffolds sintered at 1150°C show potential for growing human osteoblast cells and may induce differentiation, particularly FA. However, further investigation is needed to be able to draw concrete conclusions from similar findings with HA and FA sintered at different temperatures, which will be investigated in a larger study. This pilot study has helped optimize protocols and data analysis for future investigations. |
