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In vitro biocompatibility evaluation of surface‐modified titanium alloys
Author(s) -
Treves Cristina,
Martinesi Maria,
Stio Maria,
Gutiérrez Alejandro,
Jiménez José Antonio,
López María Francisca
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.32507
Subject(s) - biocompatibility , materials science , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , adhesion , titanium , umbilical vein , surface roughness , surface modification , vanadium , contact angle , corrosion , metallurgy , chemical engineering , biomedical engineering , in vitro , composite material , biochemistry , medicine , biology , engineering
The present work is aimed to evaluate the effects of a surface modification process on the biocompatibility of three vanadium‐free titanium alloys with biomedical applications interest. Chemical composition of alloys investigated, in weight %, were Ti‐7Nb‐6Al, Ti‐13Nb‐13Zr, and Ti‐15Zr‐4Nb. An easy and economic method intended to improve the biocompatibiblity of these materials consists in a simple thermal treatment at high temperature, 750°C, in air for different times. The significance of modification of the surface properties to the biological response was studied putting in contact both untreated and thermally treated alloys with human cells in culture, Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) and Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC). The TNF‐α release data indicate that thermal treatment improves the biological response of the alloys. The notable enhancement of the surface roughness upon oxidation could be related with the observed reduction of the TNF‐α levels for treated alloys. A different behavior of the two cell lines may be observed, when adhesion molecules (ICAM‐1 and VCAM‐1 in HUVEC, ICAM‐1, and LFA‐1 in PBMC) were determined, PBMC being more sensitive than HUVEC to the contact with the samples. The data also distinguish surface composition and corrosion resistance as significant parameters for the biological response. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010