Liu Chang, Zhang Jiaxin, Zhao Xin, Xu Mingwei, Liu He, Zhou Hongming
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Dec 22;11:1337709. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1337709. eCollection 2023.
Traditional titanium alloy implant surfaces are inherently smooth and often lack effective osteoinductive properties. To overcome these limitations, coating technologies are frequently employed to enhance the efficiency of bone integration at the implant-host bone interface. Hierarchical zeolites, characterized by their chemical stability, can be applied to 3D-printed porous titanium alloy (pTi) surfaces as coating. The resulting novel implants with a "microporous-mesoporous-macroporous" spatial gradient structure can influence the behavior of adjacent cells; thereby, promoting the integration of bone at the implant interface. Consequently, a thorough exploration of various preparation methods is warranted for hierarchical zeolite coatings with respect to biocompatibility, coating stability, and osteogenesis. In this study, we employed three methods: crystal growth, secondary growth, and layer-by-layer assembly, to construct hierarchical zeolite coatings on pTi, resulting in the development of a gradient structure. The findings of this investigation unequivocally demonstrated that the LBL-coating method consistently produced coatings characterized by superior uniformity, heightened surface roughness, and increased hydrophilicity, as well as increased biomechanical properties. These advantages considerably amplified cell adhesion, spreading, osteogenic differentiation, and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells, presenting superior biological functionality when compared to alternative coating methods. The outcomes of this research provide a solid theoretical basis for the clinical translation of hierarchical zeolite coatings in surface modifications for orthopedic implants.
传统的钛合金植入物表面本质上是光滑的，通常缺乏有效的骨诱导特性。为了克服这些局限性，人们经常采用涂层技术来提高植入物与宿主骨界面处的骨整合效率。具有化学稳定性的分级沸石可作为涂层应用于3D打印的多孔钛合金（pTi）表面。由此产生的具有“微孔-介孔-大孔”空间梯度结构的新型植入物可以影响相邻细胞的行为，从而促进植入物界面处的骨整合。因此，对于具有生物相容性、涂层稳定性和成骨作用的分级沸石涂层，有必要对各种制备方法进行深入探索。在本研究中，我们采用了三种方法：晶体生长、二次生长和层层组装，在pTi上构建分级沸石涂层，从而形成梯度结构。本研究结果明确表明，层层涂层法始终能制备出具有优异均匀性、更高表面粗糙度、更高亲水性以及更高生物力学性能的涂层。这些优点极大地增强了MC3T3-E1细胞的黏附、铺展、成骨分化和矿化能力，与其他涂层方法相比，具有更优异的生物学功能。本研究结果为分级沸石涂层在骨科植入物表面改性的临床转化提供了坚实的理论基础。
