Responses of Periosteum to Titanium Plate with or without Hydroxyapatite Coating in Rabbits

Abstract

Introduction: Periosteum plays important roles in bone regeneration. High biocompatibility of titanium coated with hydroxyapatite (HA), favoring the bone regeneration, has been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the subperiosteal bone formation on titanium plates coated with or without hydroxyapatite. Materials and Methods: Six Japanese white male rabbits, 20 weeks old, were used. Titanium plates (5 x 5 x 0.5mm) coated with or without HA (1 μm thickness) were prepared with a spattering method. Titanium plates with or without HA were inserted subperiosteally on the right or left side of the calvaria and the tibia, respectively. Four weeks after the surgery, the specimens were examined with a high-resolution microcomputed tomography (CT) imaging system and histologically. Results: On the tibias, more bone formation was observed on the HA-coated titanium plates than the titanium plates without coating whereas there was no significant difference of bone formation between the two titanium plates on the calvaria. Conclusions: Although HA-coated titanium plates favorably stimulated bone formation under the periosteum of the tibia, response of periosteum to HA-coating is different between calvaria and tibia: The periosteum of the tibia has more osteogenic ability than the one of the calvaria.