Osteo-replacement properties of scleractinium coral aquaculture skeleton (experimental study)

Abstract

Aim: to evaluate the osteo-replacement properties of the coral aquaculture skeleton of P. verrucosa and A. abrotanoides (CAS) on a model of a fenestral defect in the femur of rats in comparison with the natural coral skeleton of A. cervicornis (NCS).Materials and methods. CAS grown at a Russian-Vietnamese tropical research and development technology center, as well as NCS were cleaned of organic residues, crushed into 300–600 μm granules, sterilized by γ-radiation (24 kGy) and used to fill bone defects in rat femur. Three groups of animals were formed according to the number of types of coral skeleton samples. Two animals were removed from the experiment every 3, 6, 9, 12 weeks. Tissues excised from implantation zones were fixed, decalcified in EDTA, and their histological slides stained with hematoxylin-eosin were prepared.Results. There were no fundamental differences in the dynamics of replacement of bone defects with newly formed bone tissue after implantation of CAS and NCS. NCS, like CAS, were biocompatible and caused no inflammatory reactions in the implantation zone. In the defect area, there was good consolidation of NCS granules with the bone bed. Their bioresorption rates were also similar. Three weeks after implantation, periosteum grew over the defect zone and bone formation began by periosteal osteogenesis. By week 12, the defect area was filled with newly formed cancellous bone tissue with hematopoietic zones between the bone trabeculars.Conclusion. The scleractinium coral aquaculture skeleton of P. verrucosa and A. abrotanoides has osteoplastic properties similar to those of the coral skeleton of A. cervicornis from natural settlements.

Keywords

• coral aquaculture
• osteoplastic properties
• marginal excision of rat femur