Evaluation of cytotoxicity of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles on L929 fibroblast cells

Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) is an important biomaterial in medical and dental applications. Due to low solubility of its particles, it has had little application in bone reformation. For this reason, nanohydroxyapatite (Nano-HA) with a higher surface area and higher solubility has attracted the attention of researchers as an effective strategy for bone grafting purposes. There have been controversies regarding biocompatibility of the latter particles. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the biocompatibility of nano-HA on L929 fibroblast cells.

In this experimental study, nano-sized, rod- like hydroxyapatite particles sterilized, then L929 fibroblast cells were cultured on 96-well plate. Cells were exposed to nano-HA at the following concentrations: 15.75, 32, 65, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 ppm. Later, for measuring the cell toxicity of the material, MTT method was utilized to measure the absorption, which evaluated the viability of the cells for each concentration and time point. The statistical ANOVA test was used in this study.

Results of this study showed that although cell viability decreased by increasing concentration and time but ANOVA analyze indicated that there was no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05).

The results indicate that “Nano-HA" biomaterial has acceptable compatibility with L929 fibroblast cells.