Non-cytotoxic and non-genotoxic wear debris of strontium oxide doped (Zirconia Toughened Alumina) (SrO-ZTA) implant for hip prosthesis

Abstract Bioceramic materials based biological implants have gained enormous attention in research due to their extensive medical application. However, release of wear debris from them limits their clinical relevance due to many health risks in the recipient. Thus, we decided to evaluate the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of wear debris released from Strontium oxide doped Zirconia Toughened Alumina (SrO-ZTA) hip prosthesis developed in our laboratory. An extensive cytotoxicity analysis confirms that the cellular and nuclear morphology of C2C12 mouse myoblast cells are intact even after 72 h of SrO-ZTA wear debris exposure. Furthermore, treatment of wear debris in Drosophila model did not cause any damage to the larval gut epithelium and nuclei. Despite the reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase in third instar larvae after wear debris treatment at higher concentrations (50–100 μg/mL), the flies show appreciable weight gain, suggesting no harm to larva and flies. Interestingly, the eye, wing, and bristles of the hatched flies of all the experimental groups do not show any phenotypic defects. However, the number of pupae formed and flies hatched for SrO-ZTA wear debris treatment groups are almost similar to control groups expect higher treatment concentration (100 μg/mL). Lastly, the current study establishes the non-cytotoxic and non-genotoxic nature of SrO-ZTA wear debris in-vitro and in-vivo, suggesting promising medical relevance of SrO-ZTA composite.