Bioresorbable zinc hydroxyapatite guided bone regeneration membrane for bone regeneration.

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the bone regenerative properties of a heat treated cross-linked GBR membrane with zinc hydroxyapatite powders in the rat calvarial defect model over a 6-week period. Material and Methods In vitro physio-chemical characterization involved X-ray diffraction analysis, surface topology by scanning electron microscopy, and zinc release studies in physiological buffers. Bilateral rat calvarial defects were used to compare the Zn- HAp membranes against the commercially available collagen membranes and the unfilled defect group through radiological and histological evaluation. Results The synthesized Zn- MEM (100 μm thick) showed no zinc ions released in the phosphate buffer solution ( PBS) buffer, but zinc was observed under acidic conditions. At 6 weeks, both the micro- CT and histological analyses revealed that the Zn- MEM group yielded significantly greater bone formation with 80 ± 2% of bone filled, as compared with 60 ± 5% in the collagen membrane and 40 ± 2% in the unfilled control group. Conclusion This study demonstrated the use of heat treatment as an alternative method to cross-linking the Zn- MEM to be applied as a GBR membrane. Its synthesis and production are relatively simple to fabricate, and the membrane had rough surface features on one side, which might be beneficial for cellular activities. In a rat calvarial defect model, it was shown that new bone formation was accelerated in comparison with the collagen membrane and the unfilled defect groups. These results would suggest that Zn- MEM has the potential for further development in dental applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]