There is a bundle of proofs suggesting that some industrial nanoparticles (NPs) can provoke diseases and pollute the environment durably. However, these issues still remain controversial. In the biomedical field, TiO(2) NPs were recently proposed to serve as fillers in polymeric materials to improve bone
prostheses and scaffolds. Submicrometer TiO(2) particles could also result from wear debris of
prostheses. Thus, it appears to be of the highest importance to elucidate the effects of well-characterized TiO(2) NPs on the behaviour of osteoblasts. In this work, we have measured the toxicity of
anatase TiO(2) NPs with two different cell types, on L929 fibroblasts and for the first time on MC-3T3 pre-osteoblasts, with the aim to determine the level of cellular toxicity and
inflammation. Our results clearly show that these NPs provoke different dose-response effects, with the pre-osteoblasts being much more sensitive than fibroblasts. Furthermore, we observed that
anatase TiO(2) NPs had no effect on cell adhesion. By contrast, both cell types had their morphology and LDH release modified in the presence of NPs. Their
DNA was also found to be fragmented as analyzed by quantifying the sub-G1 cell population with flow cytometry. By measuring the production of
IL-6 and TNF-α proinflammatory
cytokines, we have shown that TNF-α was never produced and that MC-3T3 cells were secreting
IL-6. Most importantly, our results highlight the necessity of evaluating the toxicity of
prostheses wear debris, and of NP coatings of medical implants, to determine if they can possibly provoke
inflammation and inhibit bone reconstruction.