Fibroblast growth and polymorphonuclear granulocyte activation in the presence of a new biologically active sol-gel glass

The search for chemical devices to be used in clinical orthopaedics must find substances that are biocompatible and do not elicit inflammatory responses in vivo. To this end, a new form of glass has been prepared, composed of 8.1% CaO, 2.9% P2O5, 6.7% N2O5 and 82.3% SiO2, using sol–gel procedures. In order to evaluate the in vitro biocompatibility of this glass, the proliferation of cultured murine fibroblasts and the activation of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes has been studied. The performance of the sol–gel glass has been compared with that of a biocompatible non-resorbable soda–lime glass. Unlike the soda–lime glass, the sol–gel glass neither caused the inhibition of fibroblast growth nor elicited a marked inflammatory response by polymorphonuclear leukocytes, as demonstrated by chemiluminescence assay for reactive oxygen metabolites.