The effect of Sr concentration on bioactivity and biocompatibility of sol–gel derived glasses based on CaO–SrO–SiO2–P2O5 quaternary system

• Published in: Materials Science and Engineering C: Biomimetic and Supramolecular Systems Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 383 - 390
• Main Authors: Hesaraki, Saeed, Gholami, Mozhdeh, Vazehrad, Sadaf, Shahrabi, Sara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 06.04.2010
• ISSN: 0928-4931
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2009.12.001

Sol-gel derived glasses based on the CaO-SrO-SiO2-P2O5 system were prepared and the effect of Sr concentration on the in-vitro bioactivity and cellular properties of the glasses were investigated. SrO was substituted for CaO in the glass formula, up to 10 mol%, and the in-vitro bioactivity of the samples was evaluated by soaking them in simulated body fluid followed by structural characterisation using XRD, FTIR and SEM. The effects of various glass compositions on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic cells were also evaluated. The results showed that the substitution of Sr for Ca in the glass composition retarded the formation of the apatite layer on the glass surfaces. The morphologies of the apatite layers were also different and the abundance of the crystals decreased with increasing Sr concentration. The bioactive glasses did not exert a cytotoxic effect on the cells, but the proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of the cells on the samples containing low doses of Sr were higher than those of the control and the samples with a high content of Sr. Glass specimens with 5 mol% of Sr exhibited an appropriate bioactivity with optimal cell proliferation and ALP activity.