Interaction of bone and hydroxyapatite filled 4-META/MMA-TBB bone cement in in vitro and in vivo environments.

Bone response to hydroxyapatite (A) fillers in the cured 4-methacryloyloxyethyl trimellitate anhydride (4-META)/metyl methacrylate (MMA) - tri-n-butyl borane (TBB) adhesive bone cement was evaluated. Two component system consisting of powder and liquid was formulated. The liquid portion was 5% 4-META in MMA and TBB; Powder was composed of 50 wt% poly(MM/a) (PMMA) and 50 wt% dense HA particles. The results indicated that the tensile strength decreased when the HA filler size increased. Thirty-six implants in three dogs for up to 12 weeks showed HA filled PMMA-4 META cement was stable in the cement-bone interface. Histologic examinations showed that the exposed HA particles at the surface of the cured cement were generally associated with bone formation without fibrous tissue, as well as interdigitation of cement to bone. Suggesting the importance of HA fillers in inducing bone apposition that results in stable cement binding to bone, thereby complementing fast initial bone fixation of the cement.