In Vitro and in Vivo Study of Poly(Lactic–co–Glycolic) (PLGA) Membranes Treated with Oxygen Plasma and Coated with Nanostructured Hydroxyapatite Ultrathin Films for Guided Bone Regeneration Processes

The novelty of this study is the addition of an ultrathin layer of nanostructured hydroxyapatite (HA) on oxygen plasma modified poly(lactic–co–glycolic) (PLGA) membranes (PO(2)) in order to evaluate the efficiency of this novel material in bone regeneration. Methods: Two groups of regenerative membranes were prepared: PLGA (control) and PLGA/PO(2)/HA (experimental). These membranes were subjected to cell cultures and then used to cover bone defects prepared on the skulls of eight experimental rabbits. Results: Cell morphology and adhesion of the osteoblasts to the membranes showed that the osteoblasts bound to PLGA were smaller and with a lower number of adhered cells than the osteoblasts bound to the PLGA/PO(2)/HA membrane (p < 0.05). The PLGA/PO(2)/HA membrane had a higher percentage of viable cells bound than the control membrane (p < 0.05). Both micro-CT and histological evaluation confirmed that PLGA/PO(2)/HA membranes enhance bone regeneration. A statistically significant difference in the percentage of osteoid area in relation to the total area between both groups was found. Conclusions: The incorporation of nanometric layers of nanostructured HA into PLGA membranes modified with PO(2) might be considered for the regeneration of bone defects. PLGA/PO(2)/HA membranes promote higher osteosynthetic activity, new bone formation, and mineralisation than the PLGA control group.