Characterization of Magnesium Alloy Degradation in Whole Blood and Platelet Rich Plasma

Abstract

Magnesium (Mg) is an attractive biomaterial due to its desirable biodegradable and mechanical properties. In this study, we compared the degradation behavior of Mg and a new Mg alloy incubated in both whole blood and platelet rich plasma (PRP) for two hours under standard cell culture conditions. To avoid settling of red blood cells, tubes with whole blood were under constant rotation during the incubation. Post-incubation solutions were collected, centrifuged, and analyzed for pH and Mg ion concentration. Mg and Mg alloy samples were fixed with a 3% glutaraldehyde solution, dehydrated using an ethanol series, critical point dried, sputter coated, and imaged with a field emission scanning electron microscope. Analysis of the post-incubation solutions showed PRP had greater concentrations of Mg ions and higher pH values when compared with whole blood. This indicated that the Mg and Mg alloy degraded faster when incubated in PRP than in whole blood. When comparing the surface of the materials after incubation with whole blood and PRP, the surfaces of Mg and Mg alloy that was incubated in PRP had larger cracks and grain boundaries than the samples incubated in whole blood. Additionally, more particulate microstructures were observed on the samples incubated in PRP as opposed to whole blood. Further studies are still needed to elucidate the differences in degradation of Mg alloys in whole blood and PRP.