ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 23, Number 6

Cytotoxicity of biomaterials -- basic mechanisms and in vitro test methods: a review.

ATLA 23, 790-799, November/December 1995

Thomas Groth,1 Peter Falck2 and Rainer-Reginald Miethke3

1Department of Membrane Research, GKSS Research Centre, Institute of Chemistry, Kantstrasse 55,14513 Teltow, Germany; 2Biomaterials Research Unit and Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, School of Medicine (Charité), Humboldt University Berlin, Schumannstrasse 20/21, 10098 Berlin, Germany

SUMMARY

Biocompatibility is one of the main prerequisites for the clinical use of biomaterials. Central to the testing of biocompatibility is the estimation of cytotoxicity, which can be assessed in vitro by using a variety of different target primary cells or cell lines The influence of toxic agents derived from biomaterials on cellular functions and cell viability can be characterized by reductions in cell adhesion, alterations in cellular morphology, reduced cellular proliferation, and cell death, demonstrated by an absence of metabolic activity, structural disintegration and cell Iysis. A brief review of the basic mechanisms of cytotoxicity and the use of different in vitro methods for testing the cytotoxicity of biomaterials is presented.

Keywords: biomaterials, cytotoxicity, in vitro methods