Natural coral as a substrate for fibroblastic growth in vitro

Coral skeleton is a naturally porous material. This biomaterial is nowadays currently used in humans as a bone graft substitute. Its open porosity provides a large area for potential cell adhesion and for this reason fibroblastic cell proliferation into this material was investigated. McCoy's human fibroblasts were cultured on coral specimens; cell viability and propagation were evaluated by the means of an MTT test and manual counting. Due to the biomaterial porosity, numerous technical adjustments were necessary to ensure an acceptable cell development and evaluation of cell populations. Cell population was evaluated every 3 days over a 24-day period. When compared to cell growth on culture membranes, fibroblasts grew slower on coral during the early time periods, but increased to 2.2 times that of controls from the 12th day after seeding. Natural coral seems to offer a suitable surface for large fibroblastic culture and could be an interesting alternative to synthetic substrates traditionally used for this purpose.