Introduction: Chitosan is a biodegradable, naturally occurring polymer with recently used as a scaffold material in tissue engineering. To maximize the biocompatibility and bioactivity of Chitosan, nanohydroxyapatite has been incorporated into chitosan scaffolds.
Aim: This study aimed to investigate bone healing after placing CS/nHA scaffold in bone regeneration of extracted socket in rabbits with induced osteoporosis.
Materials and Methods: We used 40 New Zealand white rabbits randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (-ve Control), group B (+ve Control with CS/nHA scaffold), group C (osteoporosis with CS/nHA scaffold), and group D (osteoporosis without CS/nHA scaffold). After induction of osteoporosis and surgical extraction, the rabbits were euthanized at 2 and 6 weeks. The effect of CS/nHA was evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically using ALP, OP, and BMP-2 markers.
Results: Our results showed enhanced bone trabeculae in group B and C comparable with the group A. However, thin bone trabeculae with irregular bone surfaces were seen in group D. Our histological findings were confirmed by the newly formed bone surface area histomorphometry, besides ALP, BMP-2, and OP immunoexpression showing a sustained significant increase in group B and C compared with group D across both intervals.
Conclusion: The histology and immunoexpression of bone healing markers was positively affected by the placement of CS/nHA scaffolds under osteoporotic conditions. These results may indicate that CS/nHA scaffolds could be used to augment bone healing and improve the quality of newly formed bone after extraction in patients with osteoporosis required for future surgical procedures such as dental implantation.