Development of Fast-Hardening Calcium Phosphate Cements using Micro/Nano Horse Bone Powders

Abstract

Abstract. Bone cements composed of calcium phosphate materials have been used to substitute bone defects from traumas or accidents. Here, we report that horse bones can be used as efficient sources to fabricate bone cements for animal or human bone regeneration. We first developed new calcium phosphate materials using sintered horse bones. The horse bones were soaked in oxygenated water for 48 h to eliminate soft tissues and other organic components. Then, the bones were annealed in an electric furnace at 1200 degree for 2 h. After fabricating bone powders with controlled micro/nano sizes, we next developed fast-hardening phosphate cements for bone tissue regeneration using them. The calcium phosphate cement (CPC) consists of a solid phase (powder) and an aqueous phase (solution). For controlling hardening speed and mechanical property of CPCs, we used chitosan (CS), a biocompatible and biodegradable natural polymer, which allowed shortening a hardening time as well as high mechanical property of CPCs. The 2.0, 3.0, 3.5% chitosan solutions (CS) in 2% lactic acid were used as an aqueous phase for preparation of CPCs. The CPCs fabricated was evaluated via in vitro biological activities and in vivo animal studies. We demonstrated that the horse CPCs provide good environments for adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of human osteoblast-like cells (MG63). We also demonstrated the great potentials of horse CPCs as an enabling tool for regeneration of bone via in vivo study. We propose that the bone cements consisted of micro/nano sintered horse bone powders and CS will be one of the promising sources for animal or human bone regeneration.