• Robin C Muise-Helmericks, Marina Demcheva, John N Vournakis, and Arun Seth.
• Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
• J Trauma. 2011 Aug 1;71(2 Suppl 1):S194-6.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a membrane material, consisting only of short poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (sNAG) nanofibers, to regenerate bone tissue after implantation into circular holes in the rabbit femur.MethodsThree circular holes were created in the femurs of five male New Zealand white rabbits. The holes were ∼ 2.0 mm in diameter. Three holes in the left femur were implanted with the comparative control substance (Bone Wax; Ethicon, Inc.); three holes in the right femur were implanted with the sNAG membrane test article. Animals were killed 4 weeks after surgery, and macroscopic evaluation of the implant sites was made. Hematoxylin and eosin histology was performed on both control and test sites.ResultsAll control (bone wax) sites had visible holes (defects) at the 28-day end point of the study and showed no evidence of new bone formation. All the 15 sNAG test sites were found to have new bone tissue present in the bone hole defects. Hematoxylin and eosin histology of the sNAG-treated test sites showed the presence of osteoblasts, osteocytes, and trabecula of new bone formation at the 28-day end point of the study.ConclusionsThe sNAG membrane test material activated the regeneration of new bone tissue in a rabbit femur bone model after 28 days of implantation, whereas the control bone wax material did not.

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