Nanoscale strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite pastes and gels for bone tissue regeneration

Injectable nanoscale hydroxyapatite (nHA) systems are highly promising biomaterials to address clinical needs in bone tissue regeneration, due to their excellent biocompatibility, bioinspired nature, and ability to be delivered in a minimally invasive manner. Bulk strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite (SrHA) is reported to encourage bone tissue growth by stimulating bone deposition and reducing bone resorption, but there are no detailed reports describing the preparation of a systematic substitution up to 100% at the nanoscale. The aim of this work was therefore to fabricate systematic series (0–100 atomic% Sr) of SrHA pastes and gels using two different rapid-mixing methodological approaches, wet precipitation and sol-gel. The full range of nanoscale SrHA materials were successfully prepared using both methods, with a measured substitution very close to the calculated amounts. As anticipated, the SrHA samples showed increased radiopacity, a beneficial property to aid in vivo or clinical monitoring of the material in situ over time. For indirect methods, the greatest cell viabilities were observed for the 100% substituted SrHA paste and gel, while direct viability results were most likely influenced by material disaggregation in the tissue culture media. It was concluded that nanoscale SrHAs were superior biomaterials for applications in bone surgery, due to increased radiopacity and improved biocompatibility.