In vivo bioactivity assessment of strontium-containing soda-lime-borate glass implanted in femoral defect of rat

Abstract

Most of previous works studied the bioactivity of tertiary soda-lime-borate as in vitro method, but, there have been no previous studies investigated the in vivo compatibility of such glass. This work was mainly aimed at in vivo assessment of bone formation of tertiary soda-lime-borate bioactive glass doped with Sr. the glass composition was based on 60 B2O3–20 Na2O–(20-x) CaO–xSrO (wt%), where, x = 0 and 10 wt% (samples encoded B0 and BS, respectively). The in vivo test was conducted in femoral bone defect of Sprague-Dawley adult male rats after 3 and 6 weeks post-surgery using the histological analyses and bone formation markers (alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OCN)). Moreover, the possible systemic toxicity was studied using different biochemical analyses (alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, urea and creatinine). The result of bone markers showed that serum OCN level increased in rat implanted with sample B0 than that observed in sample BS at 3 and 6 weeks post-implantation, while this finding was reversed in ALP activity. In vivo bioactivity test showed that implantation of all borate glasses did not demonstrate local or general complications in all rats, and they exhibited nearly complete bone mineralization. However, BS glass was formed more new bone % than B0 one in long implantation time. In conclusion, the synthesized bioactive borate glasses were safe materials, and introducing of Sr in the glass was enhanced formation of new bone throughout long time of implantation. Accordingly, this glass can be used as a potential substitute for bone regenerative materials and a hosting for strontium ions delivery.