Abstract
Osteoporosis is a multifactorial bone disease characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and deterioration of micro-architecture of cancellous bone leading to bone fragility and risk of fractures. In the current work, a novel tissue engineering strategy was experimented to enhance bone architecture in the risk areas via local injection of a biomimetic/osteoinductive injectable hyaluronan based hydrogel loaded with nano-hydroxyapatite crystals (Hya/HA) with/without bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2), in distal femur of normal and ovariectomized New Zealand white rabbits. Our results revealed the osteoinductive effect of the Hya/HA composite that enhanced bone density and architecture of the rabbit distal femur.
Acknowledgement
This study was performed under an International Research Grant, Sweden – Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) through the Swedish Research Links Program funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The authors would like also to thank Dr. Rania El-Backly, Dr. Ahmad Rashad Saad, Ramy Husein, Ahmad Abelaziz and Ola Wasel for their valuable technical assistance in this work.