Effect of cell-seeded hydroxyapatite scaffolds on rabbit radius bone regeneration

Abstract: Highly porous hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds were developed as bone graft substitutes using a template coating process, characterized, and seeded with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). To test the hypothesis that cell-seeded HA scaffolds improve bone regeneration, HA scaffolds without cell seeding (HA-empty), HA scaffolds with 1.5 3 104 BMSCs (HA-low), and HA scaf-folds with 1.5 3 106 BMSCs (HA-high) were implanted in a 10-mm rabbit radius segmental defect model for 4 and 8 weeks. Three different fluorochromes were administered at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after implantation to identify differences in temporal bone growth patterns. It was observed from fluo-rescence histomorphometry analyses that an increased rate of bone infiltration occurred from 0 to 2 weeks (p < 0.05) of implantation for the HA-high group (2.9 6 0.5 mm) as com