2017 年 36 巻 3 号 p. 101-107
The alveolar bone is very important for tooth retention. However, periodontitis or trauma can cause loss of the alveolar bone, which is not spontaneously regenerated. Therefore, bone regeneration therapy for alveolar bone loss is necessary to retain the teeth and to maintain proper occlusion. Currently, alveolar bone loss is treated with surgery using bone grafts or artificial bone, which carries the risk of complications such as post-operative infection. To improve patient safety and treatment success, a new non-surgical therapy would be extremely useful. In this study, we focused on gene therapy using the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) gene. The BMP protein is strongly osteogenic, but BMP gene delivery to the periodontal tissues would obviate the need for carrier matrices or surgical intervention required for direct application of BMP. The periodontal ligaments and periosteum connected to the alveolar bone are well-known sources of mesenchymal stem cells. BMP induces the differentiation of these cells into osteogenic cells. In this study, we attempted gene transfer to the periodontal tissues via in vivo electroporation to induce alveolar bone formation in rats. Our results indicated that we successfully performed gene transfer to the periodontal tissues using a non-viral vector and in vivo electroporation. Moreover, two weeks after gene transfer, additional alveolar bone was formed in the original bone tissue. We concluded that this technique could serve as a model for a new pharmacotherapy for alveolar bone regeneration.
