Effect of CaTiO3-CaCO3 prepared by alkoxide method on cell response

In recent years, calcium titanate (CaTiO3) and carbon-containing materials have gained much attention in a number of biomedical material researches. To maximize the advantages of both materials, we developed a novel alkoxide method to get “calcium titanate with calcium carbonate” (CaTiO3–CaCO3). The objective was to evaluate the crystallinity and elemental composition of CaTiO3–CaCO3 prepared by alkoxide method, CaTiO3–aC elaborated by modified thermal decomposition method, commercially-prepared CaTiO3, and the effect of these materials on the bone marrow stromal cell. Hydroxyapatite was used as positive control material. We examined the cellular proliferation, osteoblastic differentiation, and mineralization of KUSA/A1 cells cultured with the materials. The results showed that CaTiO3–CaCO3 and CaTiO3–aC contained evidence of calcium carbonate enhancing cell proliferation, osteoblastic differentiation, and mineralization. On the contrary, the commercially-prepared CaTiO3 revealed absence of calcium carbonate with lower cell response than the other groups. The results indicated that calcium carbonate could play a key role in the cell response of CaTiO3 material. In conclusion, our findings suggest that CaTiO3–CaCO3 could be considered an important candidate as a biomaterial for medical and dental applications. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2010