| The ability of a cholesterol-reducing drug, simvastatin, to stimulate the formation of hydroxyapatite in an osteoblast-like cell line, was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Hydroxyapatite was detected using both Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Von Kossa staining techniques a week earlier when cells were cultured in growth media supplemented with simvastatin in a tissue culture polystyrene system. Analysis of infrared spectra using area integration and curve-fitting techniques was performed to quantify the hydroxyapatite content in cells relative to the biological matrix. Infrared spectroscopy was able to quantify the mineralization process. Cells grown in a rotating bioreactor mineralized more rapidly than cells grown in tissue culture polystyrene systems. |
