Mesenchymal stem cells enhance bone regeneration in rat calvarial critical size defects more than platelete-rich plasma

Objective. The objective of this study was to compare culture-expanded bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell and PRP loaded to natural bone mineral (Bio-Oss) and beta-TCP for rat calvarial bone repair. Methods. Twenty-two adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups (n = 11). In the first group, 2 calvarial defects, 5 mm in diameter, were prepared in the parietal bone. The left defect was filled with Bio-Oss plus PRP while the right defect was filled with mesenchymal stem cell cultured on Bio-Oss. Kasios as a bone substitute was replaced in the second group. The animals were humanely killed 6 weeks postsurgery and the amount of the bone regeneration evaluated using histometric analysis. Result. The bone fill length in the calvarial defect had statistically significant difference with other groups (P < .05). In both groups, mesenchymal stem cell revealed a higher percentage of bone formation in comparison with the PRP groups. Conclusions. New synthetic bone substitutes may offer a better condition for bone regeneration compared to the traditional bone substitute in combination with mesenchymal stem cells. They remained in the defect and contributed bone regeneration. The use of the mesenchymal stem cell in conjunction with bone substitutes can enhance bone regeneration more than PRP.