In vitro behavior of osteoblast-like cells on fluoridated hydroxyapatite coatings

In this work, fluoridated hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6Fx(OH)2−x or FHA) coatings are prepared by sol–gel method for study of the influence of F content on the behavior of osteoblast-like cells. The results show that the cells well attach and proliferate on the FHA coatings studied (Ca10(PO4)6F0.67–2.00(OH)0–1.33). With increasing F content in the FHA coatings, percentage of cell in S period increases, indicating F in the coating favors the proliferation process of the cells. On the other hand, the proliferation rate increases inversely with zeta potential of the coating surface. As tested from the MTT of the cells cultured in the leaching out solution, increase of F content in the FHA coatings results in a slight decrease in cell proliferation rate, which is most probably due to reduction in release of Ca2+ ions. As a compromise among cell attachment, cell proliferation, apatite deposition and ability to resist dissolution, it is suggested that FHA coatings (Ca10(PO4)6Fx(OH)2−x) with x in the range of 0.67–1.48, from the results of this study, may be most suitable for real case implantation.