Biomimetic Mg-substituted hydroxyapatite: from synthesis to in vivo behaviour

The incorporation of magnesium ions (in the range 5-10 mol% in respect to Ca) into the hydroxyapatite structure, which is of great interest for the developing of artificial bone, was performed using magnesium chloride, calcium hydroxide and phosphoric acid, as reactants. Among the synthesized powders, the synthetic HA powder containing 5.7% Mg substituting for calcium was selected, due to its better chemico-physical features, and transformed into granules of 400-600 mu m, for biocompatibility tests (genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, toxicity, in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo skin irritation-sensitization tests). In vivo tests were carried out on New Zealand White rabbits using the granulate as filling for a femoral bone defect: osteoconductivity and resorption were found to be enhanced compared to commercial stoichiometric HA granulate, taken as control.