Data from: Incorporation of surface-modified hydroxyapatite into poly(methyl methacrylate) to improve biological activity and bone ingrowth

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is the most frequently used bone void
filler in orthopedic surgery. However, the interface between the
PMMA-based cement and adjacent bone tissue is typically weak as PMMA bone
cement that is inherently bioinert and not ideal for bone ingrowth. The
present study aims to improve the affinity between the polymer and ceramic
interphases. By surface modifying nano-sized hydroxyapatite (nHAP) with
ethylene glycol and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) sequentially via a two-step
ring opening reaction, affinity was improved between the polymer and
ceramic interphases of PCL-grafted ethylene glycol-HAP (gHAP) in PMMA. Due
to better affinity, the compressive strength of gHAP/PMMA was
significantly enhanced compared to nHAP/PMMA. Further, PMMA with 20 wt.%
gHAP promoted pre-osteoblast cell proliferation in vitro and showed the
best osteogenic activity between the composites tested in vivo. Taken
together, gHAP/PMMA not only improves the interfacial adhesion between the
nanoparticles and cement, but also increases the biological activity and
affinity between the osteoblast cells and PMMA composite cement. These
results show that gHAP and its use in polymer/bioceramic composite have
great potential to improve the functionality of PMMA cement.