A silver carp skin derived collagen in bone defect treatment-A histological study in a rat model

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in elaboration of novel therapeutic strategies, such as the use of the marine collagen products. Biochemical properties of marine collagen are different from those of mammalian collagen; e.g., its extremely high solubility in diluted acid. Extracts produced using low temperature techniques contain a number of small proteins and collagen with preserved triple helix structure. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of a new marine product Collgel^® obtained with a unique method from a silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) on bone defect healing in a rat study. For this purpose bone defects with diameters of 5mm were created in 15 animals and subsequently filled with Collgel combined with another commercially available material. Samples were processed for histological evaluation and a Micro-CT study was performed. Histological analysis showed new bone formation in all groups after 8 weeks. The bone formation was significantly increased in treated bone lesions compared to untreated bone tissue. However no significant difference was noted between the healing of the defects filled with xenogenic bovine derived bone substitute alone and xenogenic, bovine derived bone substitute combined with a marine delivered collagen. Finding from the histological examination was confirmed in a Micro-CT study. The study has shown that the new marine product can be used instead of conventional porcine or bovine collagen membranes in guided bone regeneration.