Regenerative behavior of biomineral/agarose composite gels as bone grafting materials in rat cranial defects

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the biological behavior of Hydroxyapatite (HAp)/agarose and calcium carbonate (CaCO3)/agarose composite gels by an alternate soaking process used for the treatment of surgically produced bone defects in rat cranium. We designed the following four groups: (i) HAp (HAp/agarose composite gel), (ii) CaCO3 (CaCO3/agarose composite gel), (iii) Agarose (bare agarose gel), and (iv) Defect (no filling materials). We subdivided (i) (ii) (iii) into two application types as a (I) Homogenized Group (homogenized materials) and a (II) Disk Group (disk shaped materials). We assessed samples by radiological and histological analyses 0, 4, and 8 weeks after implantation. The results indicated that the composite gels showed higher radiopacity in microfocus‐computed tomography (μCT) images and showed higher volume in quantitative analyses using Dual Energy X‐ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) and Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) than the Agarose and Defect groups. The histological examination showed characteristic images due to each application form. Consequently, HAp and CaCO3/agarose composite gels can be expected to accelerate the speed of producing more new bone associated with osteogenesis. These novel biomaterials play an important role as an alternative biocompatible and biodegradable bone grafting filler material for autogenous bone. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010