Abstract
Although bone repair scaffolds are required to possess high radiopacity to be distinguished from natural bone tissues in clinical applications, the intrinsic radiopacity of them is usually insufficient. For improving the radiopacity, combining X-ray contrast agents with bone repair scaffolds is an effective method. In the present research, MgNH4PO4·H2O/SrHPO4 3D porous composite scaffolds with improved radiopacity were fabricated via the 3D printing technique. Here, SrHPO4 was firstly used as a radiopaque agent to improve the radiopacity of magnesium phosphate scaffolds. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the phases, morphologies, and element compositions of the 3D porous composite scaffolds. The radiography image showed that greater SrHPO4 contents corresponded to higher radiopacity. When the SrHPO4 content reached 9.34%, the radiopacity of the composite scaffolds was equal to that of a 6.8 mm Al ladder. The porosity and in vitro degradation of the porous composite scaffolds were studied in detail. The results show that magnesium phosphate scaffolds with various Sr contents could sustainably degrade and release the Mg, Sr, and P elements during the experiment period of 28 days. In addition, the cytotoxicity on MC3T3-E1 osteoblast precursor cells was evaluated, and the results show that the porous composite scaffolds with a SrHPO4 content of 9.34% possessed superior cytocompatibility compared to that of the pure MgNH4PO4·H2O scaffolds when the extract concentration was 0.1 g/mL. Cell adhesion experiments showed that all of the scaffolds could support MC3T3-E1 cellular attachment well. This research indicates that MgNH4PO4·H2O/SrHPO4 porous composite scaffolds have potential applications in the bone repair fields.
Highlights
IntroductionAs an alternative to autologous and allogeneic bone grafts, artificial bone grafts have gained more and more attention in recent decades as they overcome the drawbacks of bone grafts and have shown great promise for bone tissue repair and regeneration [1,2,3,4,5,6]
X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern (b) belongs to the S0 scaffolds, which is in agreement with our previous report that the components of the scaffolds are the orthorhombic phase of MgNH4 PO4 ·H2 O, hexagonal phase of Mg(OH)2 (JCPDS 07-0239), and cubic phase of MgO
MgNH4 PO4 ·H2 O/SrHPO4 porous composite scaffolds with improved radiopacity were fabricated by a 3D printing process
Summary
As an alternative to autologous and allogeneic bone grafts, artificial bone grafts have gained more and more attention in recent decades as they overcome the drawbacks of bone grafts and have shown great promise for bone tissue repair and regeneration [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Bone repair and regeneration are complex processes that include the structure reconstruction and functional recovery of new bones, which 4.0/). Biomedicines 2021, 9, 1138 results in multifold requirements for bone repair scaffolds [12,13,14]. Structural and functional requirements may be diverse as the clinical applications are different
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