Abstract:

Objective　To explore the ability of injectable nano-Hydroxyapatite/chitosan composite compounded with bone marrow stromal cells (nHA/CS-BMSCs) for repairing large bone defects of rabbit femoral condyle.　Methods　Animal models of bone defects were induced in 18 New Zealand white rabbits by drilling holes in bilateral femoral lateral condyles, and treated as follows: for all animals, the right defects were filled with the nHA/CS-BMSCs compounded, however, the left defects of 16 rabbits were filled with CS material, while, left defects of another 2 animals were untreated and taken as the control. The repairing effects were evaluated by gross observation, X-ray and CT scan 12 weeks after operation.　Results　The gross observation, X-ray lateral projection, the measurement and analysis of CT values, and the results of three dimensional reconstruction revealed that, the bone defects filled with nHA/CS-BMSCs had been repaired completely, with the better repairing effects compared to that of CS. nHA/CS-BMSCs prompt to  the new bone formation, compared to CS material(P＜0.05).    Conclusions     The nHA/CS-BMSCs is effective on repairing bone defects, which maybe a promising bone repairing material for clinical application.

Key words:  Bone marrow stromal cells, nHA/CS, bone defect, New Zealand white rabbits