New Bone Formation in the Whole Decellularized Cortical Bone Scaffold Using the Model of Revitalizing a Haversian System.

Abstract

Decellularized allogeneic bone chips act as scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration. Owing to their lack of osteogenic potentials compared to autologous bone graft, decellularized bone scaffolds (DBSs) have applied only to small partial bone defects in clinical settings. Furthermore, only decellularized cancellous bone chips have been limitedly used for the purpose of bone regeneration. The cortical bone has less porosity and less osteogenic materials such as bone morphogenetic proteins in comparison with cancellous bone. In this study, we tried to accelerate new bone formation within the decellularized cortical bone scaffold using a vascular pedicle as an in vivo bioreactor.Forty DBSs were divided into 4 groups with different conditionings (DBS+ demineralized bone matrix [DBM], DBS+DBM+me+mesenchymal stem cells, DBS+DBM+vascular pedicle, and DBS+DBM+vascular pedicle+mesenchymal stem cells) and implanted into the back of 5 rabbits. Half of the DBSs were examined at 8 weeks and the other half at 16 weeks to determine vascularization level and osteogenesis within each group. New bone formation and bone-forming cells related to osteogenesis were observed via histological staining. Inclusion of the vascular pedicle resulted in larger areas of bone regeneration. With time, osteon structures became more prominent in groups containing the vascular pedicle.In summary, vascularized DBSs combined with a vascular pedicle have shown promising results for bone regeneration, thereby representing potential therapeutic alternatives for autologous bone grafts or bone tissue free transfer in large or segmental bone defects. In addition, demineralized whole cortical bone matrix along with vascular pedicle and various bone inductive materials, such as DBM and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2, may be an additional new option of an ideal osteoinductive system.