Combination of bioactive polymeric membranes and stem cells for periodontal regeneration: In vitro and in vivo analyses

Abstract

Regeneration of periodontal tissues requires a concerted effort to obtain consistent and predictable results in vivo. The aim of the present study was to test a new family of bioactive polymeric membranes in combination with stem cell therapy for periodontal regeneration. In particular, the novel polyester poly(isosorbide succinate-co-L-lactide) (PisPLLA) was compared with poly(L-lactide) (PLLA). Both polymers were combined with collagen (COL), hydroxyapatite (HA) and the growth factor bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP7), and their osteoinductive capacity was evaluated via in vitro and in vivo experiments. Membranes composed of PLLA/COL/HA or PisPLLA/COL/HA were able to promote periodontal regeneration and new bone formation in fenestration defects in rat jaws. According to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Alizarin Red assays, better osteoconductive capacity and increased extracellular mineralization were observed for PLLA/COL/HA, whereas better osteoinductive properties were associated with PisPLLA/COL/HA. We concluded that membranes composed of either PisPLLA/COL/HA or PLLA/COL/HA present promising results in vitro as well as in vivo and that these materials could be potentially applied in periodontal regeneration. © 2016 Gonçalves et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.