Influence of strontium and the importance of glass chemistry and structure when designing bioactive glasses for bone regeneration

The purpose of this article is to highlight some recent in vitro and in vivo studies of bioactive glasses containing strontium and to review selected literature on the in vitro and in vivo behaviour of bioactive glasses to relate this to the structure of the glass. The strontium-glass studies were performed well scientifically, but the results and conclusions could be misleading in terms of the effect of strontium, or more broadly glass chemistry, on the bioactivity and in vivo behaviour of bioactive glasses due to substitutions made on a weight basis. When strontium is substituted by weight for a lighter element such as calcium this will have a significant effect on structure and properties in particular biological response.