Role of amniotic fluid mesenchymal cells engineered on MgHA/collagen-based scaffold allotransplanted on an experimental animal study of sinus augmentation

The present research has been performed to evaluate whether a commercial magnesium-enriched hydroxyapatite (MgHA)/collagen-based scaffold engineered with ovine amniotic fluid mesenchymal cells (oAFMC) could improve bone regeneration process in vivo.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Bilateral sinus augmentation was performed on eight adult sheep in order to compare the tissue regeneration process at 45 and 90 days after implantation of the oAFMC-engineered scaffold (Test Group) or of the scaffold alone (Ctr Group). The process of tissue remodeling was analyzed through histological, immunohistochemical, and morphometric analyses by calculating the proliferation index (PI) of oAFMC loaded on the scaffold, the total vascular area (VA), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression levels within the grafted area.RESULTS:MgHA/collagen-based scaffold showed high biocompatibility preserving the survival of oAFMC for 90 days in grafted sinuses. The use of oAFMC increased bone deposition and stimulated a more rapid angiogenic reaction, thus probably supporting the higher cell PI recorded in cell-treated sinuses. A significantly higher VEGF expression (Test vs. Ctr Group; p = 0.0004) and a larger total VA (p = 0.0006) were detected in the Test Group at 45 days after surgery. The PI was significantly higher (p = 0.027) at 45 days and became significantly lower at 90 days (p = 0.0007) in the Test Group sinuses, while the PI recorded in the Ctr Group continued to increase resulting to a significantly higher PI at day 90 (CTR day 45 vs. CTR day 90; p = 0.022).CONCLUSIONS:The osteoinductive effect of a biomimetic commercial scaffold may be significantly improved by the presence of oAFMC.CLINICAL RELEVANCE:The amniotic fluid mesenchymal cell (AFMC) may represent a novel, largely and easily accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells to develop cell-based therapy for maxillofacial surgery[...

Amniotic fluid stem cells increase the osteoinductive property of Regenoss® scaffold in a preclinical setting of maxillary sinus lifting

The osteo-inductive property of the bone substitute RegenOss (Finceramica®) were evaluated in absence (CTR) or presence of ovine amniotic fluid stem cells (AFC) 180 days after a maxillary sinus lifting surgical approach experimental performed in a translational animal model (sheep). Both sinus explants revealed new bone deposition even if AFC induced active osteogenic fronts, a greater bone thickness and a lower cell proliferation. Moreover, some of AFC survived in the host tissue resulted integrated within the new trabecular bone. The results indicated that RegeneOss® can be successfully used in maxillo-facial surgery and that its osteo-inductive properties is potentiated by AFC that may contribute directly to the process of bone generation or, indirectly, through the recruitment of osteo-progenitor cells of the host tissue. [...