[Experimental study on repair of goat tibia defect with marrow stromal cell and bio-derived bone]

To investigate the feasibility of repairing goat tibia defect with marrow stromal cells (MSCs).

MSCs were cocultured with the bio-derived bone in vitro, and the 20 mm tibia defects were made and fixed with plate in 35 goats, and they were divided into the experimental group, control group and blank group. The defects on the right side were filled with tissue engineering bone as the experimental group, the defects on the left side with bio-derived bone as the control group in 33 goats, and the defect on the both sides were not filled with any materials as the blank group in 2 goats. The repair capability was assessed physically, histopathologically and biomechanically at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 24 weeks after operation in 3 groups.

By physical, histopathological and biomechanical examinations, the bio-derived bone was partially absorbed in the experimental group and was rarely absorbed in the control group in the 4th week; the defects were partially repaired in the experimental group, and in the control group, few new bones were observed in the two ends of the implants, in which there was fibrous tissue. The effects of biomechanics had no statistically significant difference between the experimental group and the control group (P>0.05) in the 8th week; the defects were perfectly repaired in the experimental group and the effects of biomechanics had statistically significant difference between two groups (P<0.05) in the 12th weeks. The defects were not repaired in the 24th week in the blank group.

The tissue engineering bone can efficiently repair bone defect, and its repair capability is better than that of bio-derived bone alone both in quantity and in quality of bone formation.