Interaction between fibroblast cells and porous iron-based biodegradable metals

This paper presents a preliminary work toward the understanding of cell-material interaction on the surface of biodegradable metals. It is interesting to study this interaction considering the active surface of biodegradable metals that is subjected to degradation process. Pure porous iron and biodegradable polymers-infiltrated porous iron samples were investigated for its ability to promote cell adhesion and growth using fibroblast cells. The cellular morphology and behaviour of the cells on the surface were observed after 24 hours using microscopic techniques. The results of cytotoxicity test revealed that the metals were non-cytotoxic. Under optical microscope, the cells were quite sparsely distributed, and few cell-to-cell contacts were observed. Some cells spread thinly with the irregular surfaces wall of porous iron. It was also shown that cells adhered preferably on the surface of the pure porous iron compared to that of polymers-infiltrated one.