J Korean Assoc Maxillofac Plast Reconstr Surg.  2011 Jul;33(4):293-300.

Silk Fibroin and Substance P Combination Graft for the Reconstruction of a Bone Defect

• Park KY
• Choi KH
• Park YJ
• Song JY
• Kim SG
• Jo YY
• Kweon HY
• Kang SW

Abstract

PURPOSE
Substance P is a well known neurotransmitter and has been known to mediate pain. Recently, it has been unveiled that substance P is involved in the recruitment of mesenchymal stem cells to wound sites. The purpose of this study was to exam bone formation when a combination of substance P and silk fibroin was used in a bone defect model.
METHODS
Twenty rabbits were used and 40 calvarial defects were formed. They were divided as 4 groups (unfilled control, silk only, silk+10microg/ml substance P; Sub10, and silk+100microg/ml substance P; Sub100). All animals were humanely sacrificed 4 or 8 weeks after grafting. The specimens were analyzed by micro-computerized tomography and histological analysis.
RESULTS
When compared to the unfilled control to silk only group, there was significant difference in bone mineral density (BMD) and the attenuation coefficient (AC) at 4 weeks (P=0.037 and 0.038, respectively). When compared Sub10 group to Sub100 group, there was significant difference in BMD and AC at 8 weeks (P=0.004 for all). Residual graft amounts were 52.1+/-15.8%, 15.2+/-9.2% and 9.0+/-3.3% for silk only, Sub10, and Sub100 groups, respectively. When comparing the residual graft amount of silk only to sub10 or sub100, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.001).
CONCLUSION
The silk fibroin scaffold showed higher BMD and AC than the unfilled control. The combination graft with substance P and silk fibroin scaffold showed a faster graft degradation than with a silk fibroin scaffold only.

Keyword

Substance P; Silk fibroin; Bone graft

MeSH Terms

Animals
Bone Density
Fibroins
Humans
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
Neurotransmitter Agents
Osteogenesis
Rabbits
Silk
Substance P
Transplants
Fibroins
Neurotransmitter Agents
Silk
Substance P