The Role of Oxidative Stress in the Response of Endothelial Cells to Metals - Biologically Responsive Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering - page 64

Chapter 4
The Role of Oxidative Stress in the Response
of Endothelial Cells to Metals

Roman Tsaryk , Kirsten Peters , Ronald E. Unger , Dieter Scharnweber ,
and C. James Kirkpatrick

4.1 Metallic Materials for Implantation

Metallic biomaterials have been used for many decades in the production of various
devices for medical application. Due to their excellent mechanical properties metal-
lic materials are used in orthopaedic prostheses for bone and joint replacement.
They are, for instance, utilised in total hip and knee arthroplasty, spine surgery, in
craniofacial and maxillofacial reconstruction and as the load-bearing parts of bone
implants, such as pins and plates, for the fixation of fractured bones. Apart from
bone- and joint-related applications dental implants and cardiovascular devices
(pacemakers, intravascular stents, etc.) are produced from metals and their alloys.
The most common metallic materials used in implantology are stainless steel,
CoCr-based alloys, commercially pure Ti (cpTi) and titanium alloys, such as
Ti6Al4V, Ti6Al7Nb, Ti5Al2.5Fe and others. In joint replacement metallic materials
are used either alone or in combination with other materials, such as ceramics, ultra-
high-molecular-weight polyethylene, polyurethane, cement, etc. Different metals
and their alloys are used for different applications based on their properties. While
stainless steel and CoCr-based alloys are known for their mechanical strength and
stiffness as well as high wear resistance [ 56 ] Ti-based alloys usually display higher

R. Tsaryk ( * ) • R. E. Unger • C. J. Kirkpatrick
Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University,
Langenbeckstr. 1 , Mainz 55131 , Germany
e-mail: [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail]
K. Peters
Department of Cell Biology , University of Rostock , Schillingallee 69 , Rostock 18057 , Germany
e-mail: [e-mail]
D. Scharnweber
Max Bergman Center of Biomaterials, Technische Universität Dresden,
Budapester Str. 27 , Dresden 01069 , Germany
e-mail: [e-mail]