Injectable Biocomposites for Bone Healing in Rabbit Femoral Condyle Defects

Jianheng Liu,Fuzhai Cui,Kezheng Mao,Keya Mao,Shuying Yang,Zhengsheng Liu,Wenguang Guo,Xiumei Wang,Ryan K Roeder

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075668

Jianheng Liu, Fuzhai Cui + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075668

Copy DOI

Abstract

A novel biomimetic bone scaffold was successfully prepared in this study, which was composed of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH), collagen and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAC). CSH/nHAC was prepared and observed with scanning electron microscope and rhBMP-2 was introduced into CSH/nHAC. The released protein content from the scaffold was detected using high performance liquid chromatography at predetermined time interval. In vivo bone formation capacity was investigated by means of implanting the scaffolds with rhBMP-2 or without rhBMP-2 respectively into a critical size defect model in the femoral condyle of rabbit. The releasing character of rhBMP-2 was that an initial burst release (37.5%) was observed in the first day, followed by a sustained release and reached 100% at the end of day 20. The CSH/nHAC showed a gradual decrease in degradation with the content of nHAC increase. The results of X-rays, Micro CT and histological observation indicated that more new bone was formed in rhBMP-2 group. The results implied that this new injectable bone scaffold should be very promising for bone repair and has a great potential in bone tissue engineering.

Highlights

Nowadays, the number of patients suffering from bone tumor resections, fracture defects, or chronic infection is increasing rapidly owing to disease and trauma, and more than 1 million bone graft operations are performed in the United States every year [1]
We know that calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) is a degradable and nontoxic bone repair materials and it has been widely used in the clinic as a bone regeneration scaffold due to its rapid setting and good biocompatibility properties [19,20,21]
Characterization of the CSH/nHAC composite XRD was used for detecting the composition of this bone scaffold

Summary

Introduction

The number of patients suffering from bone tumor resections, fracture defects, or chronic infection is increasing rapidly owing to disease and trauma, and more than 1 million bone graft operations are performed in the United States every year [1]. We know that calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) is a degradable and nontoxic bone repair materials and it has been widely used in the clinic as a bone regeneration scaffold due to its rapid setting and good biocompatibility properties [19,20,21]. A novel bone tissue engineering substitute composed of CSH and nHAC has been fabricated successfully, which aims to have complementary advantages for the nonloading bearing bone defect repair in orthopedic application [23]. CSH/nHAC is an injectable bone graft material and has self-setting property Besides these, this biocomposite has good biocompatibility and strong ability to accelerate the formation of new bone [24]. The induced bone formation ability of rhBMP-2 makes it the most powerful BMP [15,33]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion