Cytotoxicity of Titanate-Calcium Complexes to MC3T3 Osteoblast-Like Cells

Monosodium titanates (MST) are a relatively novel form of particulate titanium dioxide that have been proposed for biological use as metal sorbents or delivery agents, most recently calcium (II). In these roles, the toxicity of the titanate or its metal complex is crucial to its biological utility. The aim of this study was to determine the cytotoxicity of MST and MST-calcium complexes with MC3T3 osteoblast-like cells; MST-Ca(II) complexes could be useful to promote bone formation in various hard tissue applications. MC3T3 cells were exposed to native MST or MST-Ca(II) complexes for 24–72 h. A CellTiter-Blue® assay was employed to assess the metabolic activity of the cells. The results showed that MST and MST-Ca(II) suppressed MC3T3 metabolic activity significantly in a dose-, time-, and cell-density-dependent fashion. MST-Ca(II) suppressed MC3T3 metabolism in a statistically identical manner as native MST at all concentrations. We concluded that MST and MST-Ca(II) are significantly cytotoxic to MC3T3 cells through a mechanism yet unknown; this is a potential problem to the biological utility of these complexes.