In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Bacterial Cellulose Scaffolds Used for Tissue-engineered Bone

The in vitro degradation and cytotoxicity of bacterial cellulose (BC) and its degradation products were studied for potential applications in bone tissue engineering. Emission scanning electron microscope was used to observe the morphology of original materials and their degradation products. The degradation was evaluated by measuring the concentration of reducing sugar by using ultraviolet spectrophotometer. Bone forming osteoblast (OB) cells and infinite culture cell line L929 fibroblasts were used to measure the cytotoxicity of materials using the MTT assay. Both types of cells proliferated normally with the BC and its degradation products with a cytotoxicity graded of 0–1. Nevertheless, the bone-forming target OB cells were more susceptible to cytotoxicity than the infinite culture fibroblast cells L929 fibroblasts. The results indicate that the BC is not very cytotoxic and that tissue functional cells are more suitable for evaluating the cytotoxicity of biomedical materials.