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Wool-derived keratin hydrogel enhances implant osseointegration in cancellous bone
Warwick J Duncan1, Philippa F C Greer1, Min-Ho Lee2
1Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
Aim:
This study investigated whether a keratin hydrogel derived from wool enhances ossointegration of dental implants, using a cancellous bone model in sheep.
Method:
Ten female sheep received one dental implant per hind leg in the distal femoral condyles. Test implants were coated with 1 mL of keratin hydrogel containing sulphonated keratin and hydroxyapatite; control implants remained uncoated; implants were not functionally loaded axially. Biomechanical stability was tested with resonance frequency analysis (RFA) at placement and euthanasia. Animals were sacrificed after 4 weeks and resin-embedded histomorphometry performed.
Findings:
Bone appeared denser and more mature around the keratin-treated test implants. Average % bone-implant contact was significantly increased for the test (58.1 ± 4.6 [SD]%) compared to control implants (34.4 ± 7.5%) (p = 0.01). RFA values were lower for control (76.5 ± 4.2 ISQ) than test implants (80.4 ± 1.4) after 4 weeks (p = 0.04).
Conclusion:
the increase in osseointegration found in this model suggests that keratin hydrogel has the potential to enhance the successful osseointegration of dental implants placed into poor quality bone. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 2447-2454, 2018.
