Abstract
This aim of this research was to develop a novel ceramic scaffold to evaluate the response of bone after ceramic implantation in New Zealand (NZ) rabbits. Ceramics were prepared by the polymer replication method and inserted into NZ rabbits. Macroporous scaffolds with interconnected round-shaped pores (0.5–1.5 mm = were prepared). The scaffold acted as a physical support where cells with osteoblastic capability were found to migrate, develop processes, and newly immature and mature bone tissue colonized on the surface (initially) and in the material’s interior. The new ceramic induced about 62.18% ± 2.28% of new bone and almost complete degradation after six healing months. An elemental analysis showed that the gradual diffusion of Ca and Si ions from scaffolds into newly formed bone formed part of the biomaterial’s resorption process. Histological and radiological studies demonstrated that this porous ceramic scaffold showed biocompatibility and excellent osteointegration and osteoinductive capacity, with no interposition of fibrous tissue between the implanted material and the hematopoietic bone marrow interphase, nor any immune response after six months of implantation. No histological changes were observed in the various organs studied (para-aortic lymph nodes, liver, kidney and lung) as a result of degradation products being released.
Highlights
The growing number of bone reconstructive surgery types, along with progressively prolonged life expectancy in developed countries, make research and the development of alternatives to natural bone grafts increasingly important
The porous bioactive scaffold induced new bone tissue formation inside the material in three ways: (i) invasion of newly formed bone tissue on the material’s surface using the network of interconnected pores, with the material starting from the periphery toward its center; (ii) macrophage activity that precedes invasion or penetration of bone marrow, which provides a capillary axis accompanied with vascular cells, and an osteoblastic line; and (iii) the material per se is able to create the microenvironment required around it to locally carry out the osteogenic differentiation of the osteogenic precursor cells contained in the hematopoietic bone marrow
Porous bioactive scaffolds are most interesting to be used as bone substitutes in the bone tissue engineering field [16]
Summary
The growing number of bone reconstructive surgery types, along with progressively prolonged life expectancy in developed countries, make research and the development of alternatives to natural bone grafts increasingly important. Bioactive scaffolds play an important role in tissue engineering [1,2]. A bone substitute material should display ‘bimodal’ behavior, which, in early differentiation stages, allows osteoblasts to build bridges between different sizes of grain and to integrate with other osteoblasts to support both proliferation and differentiation. New bone formation has been stimulated by the activation of mesenchymal stem cells and their absorption onto surfaces with nanoscale topographic features [3]. The ultimate goal is to unite fully differentiated osteoblasts that. Materials 2016, 9, 785; doi:10.3390/ma9090785 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials support bone matrix production.
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