Osteoblast biocompatibility and inhibition of bacterial adhesion to thermally and chemically treated TiAlV alloy

The objective of this work was to study whether thermal and chemical conversion treatments improve the biocompatibility of the TiAlV alloy and reduce bacterial growth. Firstly, TiAlV alloy was modified by thermal treatment at 650 ºC for 1 hour. Then, chemical conversion was carried out in a CeCl3 solution to generate cerium oxide. Modified surfaces were characterized using AFM and SEM-EDX. Osteoblast adhesion and bacteria biofilm formation were measured in vitro with MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cell line and Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35983, respectively. Bacterial viability was quantified through content in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as a measure of metabolic activity. Morphology and proliferation on modified surfaces were analyzed by SEM-EDX. Results revealed that thermally treated TiAlV showed greater osteoblast proliferation viability associated with greater roughness and crystalline structure of rutile. Modified surfaces did not cause bactericidal effect but TiAlV surfaces with ceria showed a decrease in bacterial adhesion i.e. less bacteria proliferation and therefore a decrease in bacterial colonization.