A rat model of resorption of bone at the cement-bone interface in the presence of polyethylene wear particles.

Resorption of bone and the formation of a membrane at the interface between acrylic cement and bone were induced by particles of high-density polyethylene that were similar in size to those that are present in the tissues surrounding a human joint prosthesis. A non-weight-bearing plug of methylmethacrylate was inserted through the knee joint into the distal part of the femur of the rat. The plug rapidly became surrounded by a shell of bone. After repeated injections of particles of high-density polyethylene into the knee joint, resorption of bone occurred at this stable interface. No resorption of bone occurred after the opposite knee was injected with a control preparation that did not contain particles. The resorption of bone that occurred around the plug after the injection of particles of polyethylene took place in the absence of mechanical causes for loosening and in the absence of infection.