Study on drug release of and biological response to UHMWPE wear debris carrying estradiol

The aim of this study is to investigate in vitro release of 17β-estradiol (E2), the potential drug to treat osteolysis, and the biological response to ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene loaded with E2 (UHMWPE-E2) wear debris. The osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) and macrophages (RAW264.7) were co-cultured with UHMWPE-E2 wear debris via inversion culture technique, respectively. MTT, ALP and ELISA assay were employed to evaluate the cell proliferation, ALP activity and the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6). In vitro E2 release included: initial burst release, celerity release and steady release. The E2 released steadily after 40 d and lasted more than 60 d. The E2 in UHMWPE-E2 wear debris promoted the proliferation and ALP activity of MC3T3-E1 cells at the high debris dosages of 8–10 mg. In particular, the UHMWPE-E2 wear debris inhibited the expression of IL-6 of osteoblasts at all dosages in the present study. RAW264.7 cells cultured with UHMWPE-E2 and UHMWPE wear debris exhibited large sizes about 100 μm in diameter. The small size wear debris presented inside of cells indicated that the wear debris activated the phagocytosis of macrophages. The results indicated the E2 in UHMWPE-E2 would play a role in the treatment of the debris induced-osteolysis after artificial hip joint replacement.