Fabrication of MgCl2/PCL biocomposite scaffolds using 3D bio-plotting system to regenerate long bone critical-sized defects

Abstract

The regeneration of critical-sized bone defects is one of the key obstacles in bone tissue engineering. To address this issue, several methods have been proposed, including autologous bone grafts. However, each of these methods has its limitations. In this study, we fabricated a MgCl2/poly epsilon-caprolactone biocomposite scaffold for the regeneration of critical-sized bone defects. Bone regeneration tests were performed using 18 male New Zealand white rabbits aged >4 months (>3.5 kg). Bone defects were made on the radius of both front feet (defect length =10 mm) and fixed using a K-wire. The defect on the left radius was used as a control, whereas the right radius was filled with pure poly epsilon-caprolactone or MgCl2/poly epsilon-caprolactone composite scaffolds (n = 6 each). Our results demonstrated that bone regeneration rates of MgCl2/poly epsilon-caprolactone composite scaffolds were faster than those of the negative and positive controls.