In vitro efficacy of CaCO3 content in CaTiO3 - CaCO3 composites for bone growth

Abstract

The effect of CaTiO3 compounded with different amounts of CaCO3 on osteoblastic KUSA/A1 cells was evaluated. CaTiO3-CaCO3 composites were obtained by alkoxide method, a simple, low-cost and reproducible technique used for large-scale production of material. The content of CaCO3 in our samples was controlled by varying the sintering time of the overall process. Composite morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showing particles with sizes ranging from100 to 500 nm. The presence of CaCO3 was revealed by XRD and thermogravimetric analyses, which suggested that samples treated at 650ºC for 30 min contained higher amounts of CaCO3 than samples treated for 2 and 10 h. Additionally, in vitro studies demonstrated that CaTiO3–CaCO3 composites sintered for 30 min induced augmented cell proliferation and mineralization in comparison to composites sintered for longer periods of time. Hence, our findings clearly suggest that the amount of CaCO3 within CaTiO3-CaCO3 composites exerts a critical effect on osteoblastic cells response. Enhanced bone regeneration could be achieved by increasing the content of CaCO3 within the composites, thus establishing CaTiO3-CaCO3 as a promising material for bone augmentation procedures in dental field.