Repair of segmental mandibular bone defects in sheep using bone marrow stromal cells and autologous serum scaffold: a pilot study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate effective bone regeneration using an autologous serum scaffold (alone or seeded with autologous bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells, BM-MSCs), when implanted in a 30 mm length segmental mandibular defect in sheep.

Materials And Methods: The bone defect was filled either with serum scaffold alone (control group; n = 5) or combined with BM-MSCs (experimental group; n = 10). Bone regeneration was determined at 12 (T12; 2 control sheep and 4 experimental sheep) and 32 weeks (T32; 3 control and 6 experimental sheep), as measured by computed and microcomputed tomography and histological examination.