The performance of CPC/PLGA and Bio‐Oss^® for bone regeneration in healthy and osteoporotic rats

Abstract The current study aimed to evaluate the biological performance of calcium phosphate cement (CPC) with polylactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) micro‐particles and Bio‐Oss^® in ovariectomized and healthy rats. Thirty‐two Wistar rats received alternating experimental CPC/PLGA and Bio‐Oss^® in femoral condyle defects in both femurs 6 weeks after ovariectomy (OVX, n = 16) or sham operation (SHAM, n = 16). Six weeks after OVX or SHAM surgery, bone morphology was analyzed by in vivo computed tomography (CT) to confirm osteoporotic bone condition. Analysis of bone formation and material remnants at 4 and 12 weeks after material implantation was performed by micro‐CT, descriptive histology, histomorphometry and bone dynamics by fluorochrome labeling. The in vivo CT scans showed effective induction of osteoporotic bone condition by ovariectomy. Our data showed CPC/PLGA degraded relatively faster and more steadily. However, Bio‐Oss^® had significantly less material remnants and showed significantly more bone formation compared to CPC/PLGA. Overall, our data showed relatively high amounts of CPC/PLGA for each time point, hampering new bone formation within the defect area. Osteoporotic conditions proved to significantly affect degradation rates, but did not significantly influence bone formation. An osteoporotic bone condition affects degradation of CPC/PLGA, which is vital information for its potential use in osteoporotic conditions. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 131–142, 2018.