Acceleration of de novo bone formation with a novel bioabsorbable film: a histomorphometric study in vivo

Different types of barrier membranes have been used in periodontal applications for the technology of guided tissue regeneration (GTR). The aim of this study was to characterize the biological effect of novel calcium alginate film (CAF) on bone tissue regeneration by using rabbit mandible defects model.

A critical size defect (5 mm in diameter) was created in the bilateral corner of mandible of 45 adult rabbits. The defects were covered with CAF served as the experimental group, or conventional collagen membrane (CCM) or left empty as the controls. Animals were killed after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks. Morphological and histomorphometric studies were performed to evaluate their bone regeneration pattern and biological effects.

Histological sections showed that bone regeneration pattern was centripetal in growth from defect rim. The quantitative histometry analysis revealed a significantly greater percentage of newly generated bone in CAF defects than that in CCM defects and empty defects from 2 to 6 weeks post-operation (P < 0.01). After 6 and 8 weeks, significantly more mature lamella bone had formed with CAF than with CCM. Empty control defects showed bone formation starting from the defect margins and incomplete healing even after 8 weeks.

The CAF guided early bone growth and appeared more effective as a bioabsorbable GTR membrane than CCM. This study with mandible defect model suggests that bone defects augmented with CAF may offer most promising results from a histological and histomorphometric perspective.