In Vitro performance assessment of new brushite-forming Zn- and ZnSr-substituted β-TCP bone cements

Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalReceived 10 December 2009; revised 7 April 2010; accepted 14 April 2010Published online 22 June 2010 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.31669Abstract: The present study investigated the in vitro perform-ance of brushite-forming Zn- and ZnSr-substituted b-TCPbone cements in terms of wet mechanical strength and bio-logical response. Quantitative phase analysis and structuralrefinement of the powdered samples were performed by X-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld refinement technique. Ini-tial and final setting times of the cement pastes, measuredusing Gilmore needles technique, showed that ZnSrCPC setsfaster than ZnCPC. The measured values of the wet strengthafter 48 h of immersion in PBS solution at 37 C showed thatZnSrCPC cements are stronger than ZnCPC cements. Humanosteosarcoma-derived MG63 cell line proved the nontoxicityof the cement powders, using the resazurin metabolic assay.