Bone formation within the vicinity of biodegradable magnesium alloy implant in a rat femur model

The purposes of this preliminary study were to investigate the effect of increased Ca contents (5-10 wt% Ca) in Mg-Ca alloy on the mechanical properties and osseous healing rate in a standard rat defect model. Mechanical tests were performed using a compression system followed by qualitative histological analysis using the hemotoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining method and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (reverse transcriptase PCR). Mg-Ca alloy degraded fast in vivo while displaying a high level of the bone formation markersOC and ALP. Favorablemechanical strength properties were displayed as Ca content increased from 5 wt% to 10 wt% to show its potential to be considered as a load bearing implant material. The resultfrom this study suggests that the developed Mg-Ca alloy has the potential to serve as a biocompatible load bearing implant material that is degradable and possibly osteoconductive.