In vivo behavior of a collagen-coated nano-hydroxyapatite enriched polycaprolactone membrane in rat mandibular defects

BACKGROUND: This research investigated the ability of fabricated collagen (COL) coated nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) enriched polycaprolactone (PCL) membrane to facilitate new bone formation (NBF) and its biocompatibility. METHODS: Unilateral mandibular angulus defects of 28 female 12-week-old long Evans rats were created with a trephine bur with 5 mm in diameter and divided into two groups. While the test group was treated with the membrane (M-1, M-2), the control was left as self-healing (C-1, C-2) and sacrificed at 2nd (M-1, C-1) and 8th week (M-2, C-2) postoperatively. The mandibular bone of the rats was evaluated histopathologically. Density of the regenerated bone was evaluated with PET/CT. RESULTS: Histopathologically, NBF which started from the periphery of the defect had rich cellular character in M-1. Significantly higher NBF was found in M-2 when compared to M-1 (P=0.003). Furthermore, significantly lesser degree of inflammation was found in M-2 when compared to M-1 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the novel COL-coated nHA-enriched PCL membrane can serve a promising design for tissue engineering as guided bone regeneration in alveolar defects.