EFFECT OF POLYLACTIC ACID ON OSTEOINDUCTION OF DEMINERALIZED BONE - PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE USEFULNESS OF POLYLACTIC ACID AS A CARRIER OF BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN
H. Saitoh et al., EFFECT OF POLYLACTIC ACID ON OSTEOINDUCTION OF DEMINERALIZED BONE - PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE USEFULNESS OF POLYLACTIC ACID AS A CARRIER OF BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN, Journal of oral rehabilitation, 21(4), 1994, pp. 431-438
To evaluate the usefulness of polylactic acid (PLA), a bioabsorbable a
nd plastic polymer, as a carrier of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP),
a preliminary study has been carried out to investigate any negative e
ffect of PLA on osteoinduction of demineralized bone (DB). PLA (10,600
mol. wt) was mixed with DB particles (1-1.5 mm square) prepared from
rat femurs and laid subcutaneously on the intercostal muscle of 4-week
-old Wistar rats. The PLA/DB pellets were harvested at 2, 4, 8 and 24
weeks after the operation, and prepared for light microscopic examinat
ion. Histological examination revealed cartilage formation at 2 weeks
and new bone formation at 4 weeks. Extensive bone and marrow formation
were observed at 24 weeks. PLA was gradually absorbed and completely
disappeared at 24 weeks to be replaced by connective tissue. These res
ults demonstrate that PLA does not have a negative influence on the os
teoinductive activity and that PLA could well be a promising bioabsorb
able carrier of BMP.