In vivo evaluation of the biocompatibility and biodegradation of a new denatured plasma membrane combined with liquid PRF (Alb-PRF)

Abstract

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) is a process that involves the regeneration of bone defects through the application of occlusive membranes that mechanically exclude the population of non-osteogenic cells from the surrounding soft tissue. Interestingly, platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) has previously been proposed as an autologous GBR membrane despite its short-term resorption period of 2–3 weeks. Recent clinical observations have demonstrated that, by heating a liquid platelet-poor plasma (PPP) layer and mixing the cell-rich buffy coat zone, the resorption properties of heated albumin gel with liquid-PRF (Alb-PRF) can be significantly improved. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inflammatory reaction, biocompatibility, and extended degradation properties of a new autologous Alb-PRF membrane in comparison to commonly utilized standard PRF after nude mice implantation, according to ISO 10993–6/2016. Two standard preparations of PRF (L-PRF and H-PRF) were compared to novel Alb-PRF following subcutaneous implantation at 7, 14, and 21 days. All groups demonstrated excellent biocompatibility owing to their autologous sources. However, it is worth noting that, while both L-PRF and H-PRF membranes demonstrated significant or complete resorption by 21 days, the Alb-PRF membrane remained volume-stable throughout the duration of the study. This study demonstrates—for the first time, to the best of our knowledge—a marked improvement in the membrane stability of Alb-PRF. This indicates its future potential for use as a biological barrier membrane for GBR procedures with a long-lasting half-life, or as a biological filler material in esthetic medicine applications. Thus, further studies are warranted to explore future clinical applications in various fields of medicine.

Keywords:

• Alb-PRF
• albumin
• extended-PRF
• horizontal centrifugation
• platelet-rich fibrin

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the financial support of the Brazilian government agencies CAPES and FAPERJ (grant number: E-26/202.713/2019).

Declaration Of Interest Statement

Richard J Miron declares that he has intellectural properties for the Bio-PRF and Bio-Heat devices utilized in this study. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro [E-26/202.713/2019].