Effect of silicon nitride ceramic on human osteoblast-like cells

摘要

This study designed to determine the effect of Si_3N_4 particles on human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells in vitro. Two preparations of silicon nitride were used: (1) sintered-reaction bonded 15 mm discs polished to a surface roughness of 0.03 mu m with diamond discs; and (2) machine generated particles ranging from <1.00 to 5.00 mu m. Both preparations were sterilized by autoclave. The MG-63 cells were plated onto 24 well polystyrene plate containing sintered-reaction bonded silicon nitride discs or control polystyrene surfaces for 48 hours. The DNA synthesis rate for cells growing on the ceramic discs (7000 cpm/10~5/cells) showed similar proliferative capacity to control cells growing on polystyrene surface (4000 cpm/10~5/cells), P>0.05. To evaluate the response of cells to ceramic particles, 1, 10, 100 mu g/ml or control media alone were incubated with 1 x 10~5/osteoblast-like cells/ml for 24 hours. Cells incubated with silicon nitride particles did not decrease in DNA synthetic activity. Cells exposed to: (a) 1, (b) 10, (c) 100 mu g/ml of Si_3N_4 particles had (a) 12+-1.3x10~4, (b) 10.5 +-1.5x10~4, and (c) 11.0 +- 1.7 x10~4 cpm, respectively, compared to the media control 11.6+-2.6x10~4 cpm, as indicated by uptake of ~3H-thymidine. The results of this study suggests that silicon nitride as a molded material or as particulates is biologically minert and does not hinder the growth and metabolic activity of human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells. Further studies need to be carried out to evaluate the possible use of silicon nitride as a ceramic biomaterial for joint prostheses.