Effect of different compositions on characteristics and osteoblastic activity of microporous biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramics

Abstract

To achieve optimum resorbability and bioactivity of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) bioceramics, their hydroxyapatite (HA)/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ratio should be diversely controlled. Here, we fabricated bead-shaped microporous BCP bioceramics from mixtures of synthesised HA and β-TCP nanoparticles in various HA/β-TCP ratios. Resulting BCP bioceramics exhibited three-dimensionally interconnected microporous structures. The specific surface area of the BCP bioceramics decreased with increasing β-TCP content because of increasing average grain size. In addition, the dissolution rate of these bioceramics in deionised water increased with increasing β-TCP content. The results of cytocompatibility tests demonstrated that NP6, composed of HA/β-TCP (6:4), promoted more rapid MC3T3-E1 proliferation compared with other bioceramics because of the appropriate dissolution rate and high specific surface area of this sample. Moreover, NP6 effectively upregulated osteoblastic differentiation such as alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin expression. These results suggest that the synthesised bead-shaped microporous BCP bioceramics are potential bone graft substitutes for bone regeneration.