The Effect of TiO₂ Addition on the Biological Evaluation of the 3D-printed PLGA Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of addition of TiO2 on the bioactivity of 3d-printed PLGA-based scaffolds for bone and dental tissue engineering applications.

Methods: PLGA and PLGA-TiO2 scaffolds were fabricated through 3D-printing. Human osteoblasts were cultured under standard aseptic condition. At a confluency of 90%, cells were trypsinized, suspended and seeded on the scaffolds with a density of 100000 cells per scaffold. Cell attachment was studied using laser and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Proliferation rate (alamar blue) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was measured at certain time intervals (7, 21 days).

Results: The obtained results demonstrated that the cells attached to both PLGA and PLGA-TiO2 scaffolds. Number of the cells and ALP activity increased over time for both PLGA and PLGA-TiO2 scaffolds. However, PLGA-TiO2 scaffolds represented higher proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity compared to pure PLGA at both time points (7, 21 days).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that addition of TiO2 improves bioactivity and osteoconductivity of PLGA-based scaffolds.