2010 Volume No 20  pages 260-273
|  Title: Biocompatibility of alendronate-loaded acrylic cement for vertebroplasty | 
| Author: T Calvo-Fernández, J Parra,  M Fernández-Gutiérrez, B Vázquez-Lasa, A  López-Bravo, F Collía, MA Pérez de la Cruz,  J San Román | 
|  Address: Institute of Polymer Science and Technology, CSIC, C/Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain | 
| E-mail: bvazquez at ictp.csic.es | 
|  Key Words: Injectables, biocompatibility (in vivo), cytocompatibility (in vitro), vertebroplasty. | 
| Publication date: October 5th 2010 | 
|  Abstract: This paper reports a  biological evaluation of a non-resorbable acrylic cement loaded with  alendronate for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.  The cement formulation was based on polymethyl methacrylate and acrylic  monomers; one of these had covalently linked vitamin E residues. The same  cement in the absence of alendronate was used as a control. The setting of the  charged cement presented a maximum polymerization temperature of 44ºC, a  setting time of 24 min, a residual monomer content lower than 3 wt.%, a  compressive strength of 99±10 MPa and an elastic modulus of 1.2±0.2 GPa. Cytotoxicity  studies using human osteoblast cultures revealed that the leachable substances  of the alendronate loaded cement collected between 1 and 7 days decreased cell  viability to values lower than 80%. However, morphological changes and cellular  damage in cells produced by the extracts decreased with the leak time. Cell  adhesion and growth on charged cement was significantly lower than on the  control. Implantation of the cement paste in the intra-femoral cavity of  rabbits showed that initially the osteogenic activity was evident for the  cement charged with alendronate, and the osteosynthesis process took place  mainly in the trabeculae and was manifested by the presence of a  non-mineralised osseous spicule. The interface between material and adjacent  bone tissue was initially characterized by a variable fibrous response that in  many cases it appeared reduced to thin connective tissue after a  24-week-period. | 
| Article download: Pages 
                    260-273 (PDF file) | 

 
     
     
     
    