Can locally applied risedronate be an effective agent when combined with xenografts? An animal study

Abstract

Abstract Background To examine the effects of local risedronate application with xenografts on healing of rabbit skull defects using histological, histomorphometric, immunohistochemical, and three-dimensional radiological methods. Methods Two critical-sized defects with a diameter of 10 mm were created in 16 rabbits and filled with xenogenic bone graft and xenogenic bone graft + 5 mg risedronate in the control I and risedronate (RIS) groups, respectively. Residual graft, new bone, soft tissue areas, and bone volume were evaluated in the 4- and 8-week study groups. Results In both the 4- and 8-week samples, the RIS group samples had significantly higher mean new bone area values than the C group (p < 0.05). In both groups, the values for the new bone area were significantly higher in the 8-week-old samples than in the 4-week-old samples (p < 0.05). The h scores obtained for sialoprotein and osteopontin did not differ significantly between the groups at either time point (p > 0.05). The results of radiological evaluation showed that the bone density value was significantly higher in the C group than in the RIS group at either time point (p < 0.05). Conclusions Although this study aimed to demonstrate the effect of risedronate on the osteoconductive properties of xenografts when applied locally, targeted results could not be achieved.