Abstract
Titanium implants have been extensively used in orthopedic surgery and dentistry. Most of the patients who receive such implants are elderly with a compromised ability to heal and form new bone. By using an in vitro osteoblast/implant culture system, the potency of TGF‐β1 in enhancing mineralization of human osteoblast cultures from elderly subjects was investigated in this study. Primary human osteoblast (HOB) cells obtained from different age group human subjects [Young (Y), Middle (M), and Old (O)] were cultured on Ti alloy (Ti‐6Al‐4V) disks with or without continuous administration of 0.2 ng/mL TGF‐β1 in the medium for 2 or 4 weeks. TGF‐β1 significantly (p < 0.05) increased calcium content and the size of calcified nodules on implant disks in the O group, but had no effect on the Y or M groups. The number of calcified nodules was not different with or without TGF‐β1 in all age groups. As measured by Northern blot analysis and RT‐PCR, TGF‐β1 significantly increased the expression of bone‐specific extracellular matrix proteins, including alkaline phosphatase, Type I collagen, bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin, after both 2 and 4 weeks in the O group but not in the Y group. In conclusion, TGF‐β1 enhances mineralization on implant materials of osteoblast cultures from elderly human subjects. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2005