Osteoconductivity and biocompatibility of beta-titanium alloy Ti-15Mo with biomimetic coating in vitro

Background. One of the most important tasks for modern orthopedics is the development of materials for permanent (non-removable) implants with high mechanical properties on the one hand, and high biocompatibility and bioactivity on the other hand. In the present work we propose an approach to solving this problem consisting in the formation of ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure in low-modulus pseudo-β-titanium alloy Ti-15Mo and modification of its surface by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO).

Aim. To evaluate the influence of structure and PEO modes on the peculiarities of Ti-15Mo alloy porous coating formation, its biocompatibility and adhesion activity of mesenchymal multipotent cells.

Materials and methods. The material of the study was UFG pseudo β-titanium alloy Ti-15Mo with modified surface by PEO method. To investigate the biocompatibility of uncoated and PEO-coated samples, a comparative study of their hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity in vitro was carried out. To evaluate the osteoconductivity, the stimulation of cell adhesion by the alloy samples was studied.

Results. Surface modification of Ti-15Mo alloy by PEO method resulted in the formation of coatings with developed pore system. Such topography of the coatings is close to the topography of the bone tissue that increases the area of the implant/bone contact, positively influences the osteointegration of the cells – osteoblasts and reduces the terms of the implant engraftment. It is shown that the samples from UFG alloy with PEO coatings have no toxic effect on blood cells and promote adhesion of mesenchymal multipotent cells – osteoblast precursors, which can be considered as an indicator of osteoconductivity of the modified titanium alloy surface.

Conclusion. The obtained results testify to the prospects of this development of bioimplants creation for the purposes of traumatology, orthopedics and oncology.

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