Prefabrication of vascularized bone flap using bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to produce newly vascularized bone, and to form the bone into the desired shape. Silicone molds given the shape of a cylinder were used to deliver collagen sheets impregnated with or without rhBMP-2. The superficial inferior epigastric neurovascular bundle in a Wistar rat was identified and sandwiched between the silicone molds. The molds containing collagen sheets impregnated with 10 micrograms of rhBMP-2 were used for the experimental purpose, and those without rhBMP-2 were used as a control. In some of the experimental molds, the neurovascular bundle was ligated at both proximal and distal sites of the molds. After 2 and 4 weeks operation, bone formation was detected macroscopically, radiologically, and histologically. As a result, newly formed bone was observed in all experimental sites without the ligation, and the shape of the bone was exactly the same shape as the silicone mold. Newly formed bone was supplied by the superficial inferior epigastric artery, whereas newly formed bone was not observed in the control and the ligated flaps. Newly vascularized and shaped bone was created by applying an osteoinductive factor to a neurovascular bundle. This study demonstrates that this experimental model could be a therapeutically potential approach for effective bone reconstruction.