A preliminary experimental study on bone marrow stromal cell biocompatibility of carboxymethyl chitosan calcium

Objective To evaluate the cellular biocompatibility of the carboxymethyl chitosan calcium (CCC)composite by observing the morphology and proliferation of murine bone marrow stromal cells(BMSCs) in vitro. Methods CCC was synthesized and then analyzed by an infrared spectrometer (IR). CCC extraction prepared with DMEM (experimental group),DMEM culture medium (negative control group) and 6.4g/L phenol culture medium (positive control group) were used for BMSCs culture. The morphology and proliferation of BMSCs were evaluated by inverted phase contrast microscopic observation and MTT assay. Results Infrared spectrum analysis indicated that CCC had been formed by complex reaction between carboxymethyl chitosan and calcium ions. On culture day 1,2 and 3,the cells disaggregated and the cell number noticeably decreased in the positive control group; however,the cell number in the experimental group and negative control group remarkably increased,with normal cell appearance. The absorbance (A) values of the experimental group and the negative control group were increased with time,and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P0.05). While the A value in the positive control group was significantly decreased compared with the other two groups (P0.01). At each time point of culture,the cytotoxicitygrade was 0 in the experimental group and 4 in the positive control group. Conclusion The CCC composite has potential application in tissue engineering because of good cellular compatibility with BMSCs.