On titanium release from dental implants and the inflammatory response

In dentistry, dental implants have become a standard treatment for single tooth loss and partial and total edentulism since their introduction by P-I Brånemark in the 1960s. Long-term follow-up studies have shown that dental implantation is a predictable treatment, with an overall implant survival over ninety-five percent. Mucositis and peri-implantitis are types of inflammation in the peri-implant soft tissue, and the latter occurs with the simultaneous loss of supporting bone. The pathogenesis of mucositis and peri-implantitis is considered a microbial infection in the peri-implant tissue that causes bone loss induced by inflammation. Immune and resident cells are activated by bacterial products and toxins, which induce the release of a cascade of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that can activate osteoclasts and cause further bone resorption. Noninfection-induced inflammatory reactions caused by wear particles from an orthopedic implant leading to loss of the prosthesis is a well-known condition in orthopedics. This immune response induced by metal particles has been shown to act by the assembly of a protein complex, i.e., an inflammasome, in macrophages, leading to the release of proinflammatory cytokines, e.g., interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β). Whether metal particles from a dental implant are associated in the pathogenesis of peri-implantitis has not yet been investigated thoroughly. Although titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles are known to induce a proinflammatory response, the relation between titanium (Ti) and peri-implantitis is not known. The overall aim of this thesis was to gain knowledge of the proinflammatory capacity of Ti and its potential association with the pathogenesis of peri-implantitis. The null hypothesis in this thesis is that Ti has no proinflammatory effect. To investigate the proinflammatory capacity of Ti, we exposed macrophages derived from a human cell line and monocytes isolated from human blood to Ti. We identified the activation and release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β after the exposure of human macrophages to Ti ions, indicating activation of the inflammasome complex. A five-fold increase in the release of IL-β was found when cells were primed with bacterial products, e.g., Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide ( E. coli LPS ) prior to exposure to Ti in culture medium. The proinflammatory effect of Ti was shown to be mediated by metal-protein aggregates formed in the medium and phagocytosed by macrophages.