2004 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 119-126
We have recently been advancing our research for the purpose of reconstructing maxillary bones and compensating osseous tissues using polymer electrolyte complexes (PECs). In this study, we prepared the PEC-hydroxyapatite hybrid (HAPEC ball) using newly developed PEC and hydroxyapatite particles (HAPs) with different particle diameters (200-500, 1000 μm, porosity : about 35%), and performed animal experiments to investigate the bio-affinity and biocompatibility of the HAP particles, PEC and HAPEC ball, and their potentials to be bone filling matrixes. The HAPEC ball was found to strongly facilitate the migration of cells compared with HAP particles alone. Inflammatory reactions also decreased with time, and, in particular, little inflammatory cellular infiltration was observed in 8-week cases. Moreover, there was neither diffusion nor outflow of HAP particles from the HAPEC ball. Comparison based on particle sizes showed that 200-500 μm HAPEC particles maintained the morphology upon embedding better than those with other particles diameters, and HAP particles with the largest diameter (1000 μm) showed the greatest foreign-body reaction.
The PEC newly developed not only possessed bio-affinity and biocompatibility but also facilitated potently the migration of cells. The maintenance of the HAPEC ball morphology was greatly improved by the use of HAP particles with 200-500, μm diameters. These results suggest the usefulness of the HAPEC ball as a biomaterial.
