Abstract
Most studies have focused on the biodistribution of titanium(IV) oxide as nanoparticles or crystals in organism. But several reports suggested that titanium is released from implant in ionic form. Therefore, gaining insight into toxicokinetics of Ti ions will give valuable information, which may be useful when assessing the health risks of long-term exposure to titanium alloy implants in patients. A micro synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray fluorescence (µ-SRXRF) was utilized to investigate the titanium distribution in the liver, spleen and kidneys of rats following single intravenous or 30-days oral administration of metal (6 mg Ti/b.w.) in ionic form. Titanium was mainly retained in kidneys after both intravenous and oral dosing, and also its compartmentalization in this organ was observed. Titanium in the liver was non-uniformly distributed—metal accumulated in single aggregates, and some of them were also enriched in calcium. Correlation analysis showed that metal did not displace essential elements, and in liver titanium strongly correlated with calcium. Two-dimensional maps of Ti distribution show that the location of the element is characteristic for the route of administration and time of exposure. We demonstrated that µ-SRXRF can provide information on the distribution of titanium in internal structures of whole organs, which helps in enhancing our understanding of the mechanism of ionic titanium accumulation in the body. This is significant due to the popularity of titanium implants and the potential release of metal ions from them to the organism.
Highlights
The ongoing ageing process of the population in many countries will lead to the growing demand for restoring the function of damaged organs and tissues (Holzapfel et al 2013)
This study investigates the biodistribution of titanium in ionic form after single intravenous or 30-days intragastric administration of a low dose of soluble metal salt on an animal model
The liver was characterized by single points of Ti accumulation, where in several cases calcium was present in high concentration
Summary
The ongoing ageing process of the population in many countries will lead to the growing demand for restoring the function of damaged organs and tissues (Holzapfel et al 2013). Some studies reported that metallic debris did not migrate deep into the tissue around implant (Guibert et al 2006) or the leakage of Ti to adjacent bone and later to organism was limited (Passi et al 2002). As Sarmiento-Gonzalez et al (2009) suggested, soluble Ti ions are the main degradation products of these metal implants. Metal in such form has shown higher toxicity to cell lines (human enterocytes and murine osteoblasts) than the nanoparticles at similar concentration (Soto-Alvaredo et al 2014). The health effects of long-term exposure to ionic titanium are still not well-described
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