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Vacuum plasma sprayed porous titanium coating on polyetheretherketone for ACDF improves the osteogenic ability: An in vitro and in vivo study

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Abstract

Cervical degenerative disease is a common and frequently occurring disease, which seriously affects the health and quality of the life of patients worldwide. Anterior cervical decompression and interbody fusion is currently recognized as the gold standard for the treatment of degenerative cervical spondylosis. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has become the prevailing material for cervical fusion surgery. Although PEEK has excellent biocompatibility, it is difficult to form bone connection at its bone-implant interface due to its low surface hydrophilicity and conductivity. It is widely accepted that Ti has excellent osteogenic activity and biocompatibility. In this study, a Ti-PEEK composite cage was prepared by coating Ti on the surface of a PEEK cage using a vacuum plasma spraying technique to enhance the osteogenic property of PEEK. The Ti-PEEK samples were evaluated in terms of their in vitro cellular behaviors and in vivo osteointegration, and the results were compared to a pure PEEK substrate. The skeleton staining and MTS assay indicated that the MC3T3-E1 cells spread and grew well on the surface of Ti-PEEK cages. The osteogenic gene expression and western blot analysis of osteogenic protein showed upregulated bone-forming activity of MC3T3-E1 cells in Ti-PEEK cages. Furthermore, a significant increase in new bone formation was demonstrated on Ti-PEEK implants in comparison with PEEK implants at 12 weeks in a sheep cervical spine fusion test. These results proved that the Ti-PEEK cage exhibited enhanced osseointegrative properties compared to the PEEK cage both in vitro and in vivo.

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taken from the PEEK group as the red allow showed. Scale bars: Scale bars: a-b,e–f,i-j 2 mm; c-d,g-h,k-l 1 mm

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Acknowledgment

The study was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (81572185, 81702158); National Nature Science Foundation of Anhui Province (1708085MH185, 1708085QH205, 1808185QH275); Foreign Science and Technology Cooperation of Anhui Province (1704e1002229, 202004b11020027); Funding of “Peak” Training Program for Scientific Research of Yijishan Hospital, Wannan Medical College (GF2019T02, GF2019G07, GF2019G12).

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Author notes

  1. Chen Liu and Yu Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spine Research Center of Wannan Medical College, No.22 Wenchang West Road, Wuhu, 241001, Anhui, China

    Chen Liu, Yu Zhang, Liang Xiao, Xin Ge & Hongguang Xu

  2. Key Laboratory of Non-Coding RNA Transformation Research of Anhui Higher Education Institution, No. 2 Zheshan West Road, Wuhu, 241001, Anhui, China

    Chen Liu, Liang Xiao & Hongguang Xu

  3. Department of Spine Surgery, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, No. 2 Zheshan West Road, Wuhu, 241001, Anhui, China

    Chen Liu, Yu Zhang, Liang Xiao, Xin Ge & Hongguang Xu

  4. Department of Orthopaedics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Fetullah Cumhur Öner

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  1. Chen Liu
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  2. Yu Zhang
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Correspondence to Fetullah Cumhur Öner or Hongguang Xu.

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Liu, C., Zhang, Y., Xiao, L. et al. Vacuum plasma sprayed porous titanium coating on polyetheretherketone for ACDF improves the osteogenic ability: An in vitro and in vivo study. Biomed Microdevices 23, 21 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-021-00559-y

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