The Efficacy of Cryopreserved Amniotic Membrane seeded with Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Management of Bone Defect in a Canine Model.

Bone substitutes and scaffolds play continually progressing role in management of bone defects. The amniotic membrane (AM) has been used in surgical transplantation as a biomaterial and scaffold. Autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent an excellent source for tissue engineering for the low risk of immune complications.The present study was planned into 2 main stages. The first stage, AM bank was prepared from 10 full term pregnant female-dogs. Prepared AMs were preserved at -80°C and later were used as a scaffold. The second stage, experimental bone defect was carried out on 27 apparently healthy mongrel dogs. Dogs were divided into 3 main groups; Group A: control group; defect left without scaffold. Group B: received AM only and Group C: received AM seeded with MSCs. The animals in each group were divided into 3 sub-groups (n=3) according to follow up periods as 6, 12 and 24 weeks. Animals of group C were used for MSCs acquisition and preparation. Under complete aseptic condition; the prepared AM was co-cultured with MSCs. The animals were observed for clinical, radiological and morphohistological examinations. The results showed that the use of AM seeded with MSCs has good promising outcome in bone defect healing than AM alone.