De novo bone formation using bovine collagen and platelet-rich plasma

In order to regenerate critical-size bone defects, a variety of bone substitutes is used in addition to autogenous bone. The regenerative capacity of these bone substitutes is usually compared to the efficacy of autogenous bone known as the “golden standard”. Different cytokines influence the regeneration process because of their morphogenic or mitogenic properties. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a platelet concentrate, is characterised by having a positive effect on wound healing, reducing bone graft resorption and increasing the density of bone transplants. This experiment was commenced with a view to studying the osseous defect regeneration after placing various combinations of “filler materials” in experimentally created defects in the forehead of adult pigs. Regeneration by means of grafted autogenous bone (Group 1) or a bovine collagen based medical device (Group 4) alone and combined with PRP in two concentrations (Groups 2, 3, 5 and 6) was evaluated by means of microradiography and light microscopy after 2, 4 and 12 weeks. The microradiographic and light microscopic findings showed that autogenous bone in combination with PRP (Groups 2 and 3) had a significant accelerating effect on early bone regeneration (2 weeks). This effect was not evident when PRP was added to the bovine collagen (Groups 5 and 6). When using the collagen alone, significantly higher mineralisation values were achieved after 2 and 4 weeks than when using autogenous bone alone. After a 12-week observation period, the existing differences between the healing processes in the various groups were more or less levelled out. In summary, the results of the study indicate that clinically autogenous bone, as expected, is the ideal defect filler. Combining autogenous bone with PRP did not provide significantly better results. The findings in the groups treated with bovine collagen indicate that its local application mimics the effect of autogenous bone and amplifies bone regeneration when comparing with the control defect.