Effect of etched microgrooves on hydrophilicity of titanium and osteoblast responses: A pilot study

Purpose: The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of etched microgrooves on the hydrophilicity of Ti and osteoblast responses.

Material and methods: Microgrooves were applied on Ti to have 15 and 60 µm width, and 3.5 and 10 µm depth by photolithography, respectively. Further acid etching was applied to create Ti surfaces with etched microgrooves. Both smooth- and acid-etched Ti were used as the controls. The hydrophilicity of Ti was analyzed by determining contact angles. Cell proliferation and osteogenic activity of MC3T3 mouse preosteoblasts were analyzed by bromodeoxyuridine assay and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity test, respectively. One-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used for statistics.

Results: Etched microgrooves significantly increased the hydrophilicity of Ti compared to the smooth Ti. 60 µm-wide etched microgrooves significantly enhanced cell proliferation, whereas the osteogenic activity showed statistically non-significant differences between groups. Result of the osteogenic activity significantly correlated with those of hydrophilicity and cell proliferation. Hydrophilicity was determined to be an influential factor on osteogenic activity.

Conclusion: This study indicates that increase in hydrophilicity of Ti caused by etched microgrooves acts as an influential factor on osteogenic activity. However, statistically non-significant increase in the ALP activity suggests further investigation.