Histopathological assessment of the preventive effect of leukocyte-platelet-rich fibrin on bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw following dental extraction: An animal study

BACKGROUND: Leukocyte- and platelet-rich fibrin (L-PRF) could be considered a preventive measure in Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (BRONJ). The present experiment aimed to assess the preventive effects of L-PRF on osteonecrosis of the jaw in rats. METHODS: In this interventional animal study with a split-mouth design, 28 rats were randomly allocated to saline (negative control), bisphosphonate (positive control), and Bis + L-PRF (case) groups. Bilateral extraction of maxillary molar teeth was performed followed by random application of L-PRF to one of the extraction sockets treated with Zoledronic acid for four weeks. Clinical occurrence of BRONJ and histopathologic evaluations were done, and data were subjected to the Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test and exact Fisher test performed using SPSS 25. The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The application of L-PRF resulted in a 41.67% reduction in osteonecrosis centers and the number of osteoclast cells. Also, Kruskal Wallis test results showed a significant difference among the three groups regarding the frequency distribution of inflammation severity. However, no significant difference was detected regarding the frequency distribution of the blood vessels (Kruskal Wallis test, P-value = 0.649). CONCLUSION: It could be inferred that possible preventive effects on the clinical occurrence of osteonecrosis could be expected from the application of L-PRF.