Interbody fusion is an established procedure to preserve disk height and anterior fusion, but fusion with autografts, allografts, and metallic cages has its endogenous shortcomings. The objective of this study is to investigate whether a biphasic scaffold model, the native demineralized bone matrix cylinder in conjunction with degradable biomaterial poly(polycaprolactone triol malate), can be employed as a biological graft for interbody fusion. The poly(polycaprolactone triol malate) was synthesized by polycondensing malic acid and polycaprolactone and then the concentric sheet of poly(polycaprolactone triol malate) was fabricated into the demineralized bone matrix cylinder derived from rabbit femurs. Rabbit chondrocytes were loaded onto the three-dimensional constructs with 1-day in vitro culture and implanted into the subcutaneous dorsal pocket of nude mice. The chondrocytes/scaffold constructs are approximately two folds bigger than the scaffold-alone constructs after 12 weeks of implantation. X-ray and micro-computed tomography imaging showed endochondral bone formation in the chondrocytes/scaffold constructs as early as 4 weeks and showed that the bone intensity increased over time. Histological staining confirmed the above observation. By week 8, lamellar bone tissues were formed inside the demineralized bone matrix cylinder. In addition, the compression biomechanical test showed that the chondrocytes/scaffold constructs produced a significant higher compressive strength compared to the scaffold group. These results demonstrated that the inner-phase poly(polycaprolactone triol malate) degraded over time and was replaced by new bone in an in vivo environment.
Keywords: Interbody fusion; bone graft; bone matrix; poly(polycaprolactone triol malate); tissue engineering.