In-vivo performance of plasma-sprayed CaO–MgO–SiO2-based bioactive glass-ceramic coating on Ti–6Al–4V alloy for bone regeneration

The CaO–MgO–SiO2-based bioactive glass-ceramic coating (named M2) on Ti–6Al–4V alloy has been proven to behave well in vitro. But how to make full sense of its performances in terms of osteogenesis and osseointegration in vivo matters very much. For this, the M2-coated Ti–6Al–4V cylinders were prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and implanted into New Zealand rabbit for 1, 2 and 3 months, respectively, by setting commercial HA-coated Ti–6Al–4V as the control. It is encouraging that, the two groups bonded with the surrounding tissues stably and newly formed bone grew towards or around the implants after 3-month implantation according to radiographic images. From the histological sections, it is obvious that, compared to the control, the M2-coated implant was more favorable for the osteogenesis and neo-vascularisation in the whole experimental process and demonstrated a better osseointegration with the host bone, indicating the former possessed better osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity and osteogenic ability. The study indicated that the M2-coated Ti–6Al–4V implant exerted a great potential to substitute the commercial HA-coated Ti–6Al–4V implant in repairing load-bearing bone defects.