Abstract:

Objective Using chitosan（CS）/β-tricalcium phosphate（TCP）/recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein（rhBMP）-2 for the reconstruction of rabbits’mandible defect, to prove the feasibility of CS/β-TCP as an injectable bone tissue engineering scaffold material. Methods Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into 4 groups on average: Experimental group 1 embedding CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2, experimental group 2 embedding CS/ β-TCP, control group 1 embedding autograft bone group, control group 2 embedding nothing. At 2, 4 and 8 weeks after surgery, all rabbits were executed group by group. The new bone growth situations were observed with hemat oxylin-eosin staining and immunofluorescence microscopy, the bone mineral density was detected by bone sonometers. Results After 2, 4, 8 weeks, there was significant difference among the areas of bone regeneration of all groups. The effect of experimental group 1 was better than experimental group 2. There was significant difference at different times, the areas of bone regeneration was gradually increased with time. The area of stained yellow in experimental group 1 was larger, the area of stained red was smaller. The quantities of bone density in experimental group 1 at every time after surgery were significantly higher than experimental group 1 and control group 2, but had no statistical significance with control group 1. Conclusion CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 has good biocompatibility, degradability and the capacity of guided and inducing osteogenesis. CS/β-TCP as a good injection of carrier could become a promising  carrier for rhBMP-2 and potential new degradable biological material for repairing bone defect in clinical application.

Key words: recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2, chitosan/β-tricalcium phosphate, tissue engineering, scaffold material