Biologization of Collagen-Based Biomaterials Using Liquid-Platelet-Rich Fibrin: New Insights into Clinically Applicable Tissue Engineering

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is a blood concentrate derived from venous blood that is processed without anticoagulants by a one-step centrifugation process. This three-dimensional scaffold contains inflammatory cells and plasma proteins entrapped in a fibrin matrix. Liquid-PRF was developed based on the previously described low-speed centrifuge concept (LSCC), which allowed the introduction of a liquid-PRF formulation of fibrinogen and thrombin prior to its conversion to fibrin. Liquid-PRF was introduced to meet the clinical demand for combination with biomaterials in a clinically applicable and easy-to-use way. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, ex vivo, the interaction of the liquid-PRF constituents with five different collagen biomaterials by histological analyses. The results first demonstrated that large variability existed between the biomaterials investigated. Liquid-PRF was able to completely invade Mucograft(®) (MG; Geistlich Biomaterials, Wolhusen, Switzerland) and to partly invade Bio-Gide(®) (BG; Geistlich Biomaterials, Wolhusen, Switzerland) and Mucoderm(®) (MD; Botiss Biomaterials, Berlin, Germany), and Collprotect(®) (CP; Botiss Biomaterials, Berlin, Germany) showed only a superficial interaction. The BEGO(®) collagen membrane (BCM; BEGO Implant Systems) appeared to be completely free of liquid-PRF. These results were confirmed by the different cellular penetration and liquid-PRF absorption coefficient (PAC) values of the evaluated membranes. The present study demonstrates a system for loading biomaterials with a complex autologous cell system (liquid-PRF) in a relatively short period of time and in a clinically relevant manner. The combination of biomaterials with liquid-PRF may be clinically utilized to enhance the bioactivity of collagen-based biomaterials and may act as a biomaterial-based growth factor delivery system.