Immune Response by Inflammatory Cells to Experimental Human Prosthetic Alloys

In the past three decades there has been an increase in the number of joint replacement surgeries among the US population. People in need of these surgeries include individuals of all ages for various physiological differences. This has led to a large demand for prosthetics and better prosthetic materials. A prosthetic is a device that substitutes for or supplements a missing or defective part of the body. It is essential that the prosthetic implant functions within the physiological stresses of the body's environment. However, due to the limitations of implant durability, many implants must be replaced at one point during the recipient's life. Prosthetic loosening is one of the major reasons associated with implant replacement surgery, and revision surgeries. The most common finding with failed prosthetic implants is aseptic loosening associated with periprosthetic osteolysis, the degradation of bone surrounding the implant. Aseptic loosening can be caused by the body's own immune response by a series of interactions with multiple cell types within the body. We will examine whether fibroblasts and osteoblasts have a circumstantial migratory response on the surface of different types of alloys that comprise human prosthetics. Migration assays for fibroblasts and osteoblasts have been performed with traditional metal alloys to test whether there is a difference in migration. Novel alloys are now being analyzed. The experimental metal alloys will include commercially pure titanium (CpTi), titanium-based alloys Ti-6V-Al (Ti64), and stainless steel (SS316L). We hereby aspire to find a metal that will increase the longevity of prosthetics.