Article
Reconstruction of bony defects by use of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 in combination with bioglass
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Published: | September 22, 2005 |
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Introduction: The reconstruction of bony defects after injury or tumor resection often requires the use of graft material. A variety of graft materials is used to augmentate bones and bone healing, but the success of those materials depends on many factors such as surgical application and techniques as well as the material`s properties.
The cytokines of the BMP family seem to offer a chance to enhance bony regeneration by promoting a high level of osteoblast activity in graft defects and inducing bone growth.
Aim: We reviewed the possibility to apply BMP-4 on the Bioglass NovaBone-C/Mä as a carrier thus offering a scaffolding for new bone growth, to reconstruct bony defects of the calvaria and the skullbase (bulla) in a guinea pig model.
Material: Therefore 24 guinea pigs were used in our study. We placed defects at the guinea pig skull (drill holes) at the calvaria and at the bulla, and reconstructed them on one side with Bioglass alone and on the other side with Bioglass and added BMP (100 ng per defect). Histological check-ups were carried out 4, 8 and 12 weeks respectively after the implantation.
Results: After histological review of all reconstructed defects, there seems to be no significant enhancement of osteoregeneration by pure addition of BMP, but there is a clear trend of a better osteoneogenesis with addition of BMP-4 in the calvarial defects during the first 8 weeks and in the bulla-defects after 12 weeks.
Reasons for failure in significance may be: a too low concentration of the applied BMP, or a too fast washing-out of the cytokine. We would like to discuss possible solutions for these problems, such as gene therapy.