Effect of fibrin glue on the healing efficacy of deproteinized bovine bone and autologous bone in critical-sized calvarial defects in rats

Objectives: In order to verify the hypothesis that fibrin glue (FG) is able to seal the area of bone grafting and facilitate bone regeneration. Materials and methods: Twenty-one Sprague–Dawley rats with critical-sized calvarial bone defects were randomly assigned to three groups: (A) co-administrated deproteinized bovine bone (DBB) and autologous bone grafts with FG [fibrin (+)], (B) co-administrated DBB and autologous bone grafts without FG [fibrin (−)], and (C) no graft as control. Four weeks and 8 weeks later, micro-CT analysis and histomorphometric analysis were carried out to evaluate following parameters: bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), percentage of new bone area (Pe.NB), average thickness of bone defect (Th.BD), average thickness of basal bone (Th.BB), and percentage of new bone in center of the skull defect (Pe.NBc). Results: BV/TV, Tb.Th, and Tb.N in fibrin (−) group were significantly higher than that of fibrin (+) group (p = 0.008, 0.000, 0.007, respectively) and control group (p = 0.004, 0.001, and 0.007, respectively) at 8 weeks. Pe.NB in fibrin (−) group (33.67 ± 11.72%) was significantly higher than that of fibrin (+) group (12.33 ± 3.21%) (p = 0.038) and control group (9.66 ± 8.50%) (p = 0.045) at 8 weeks. Pe.NBc in fibrin (−) group (12.05 ± 3.91%) was significantly higher than that of fibrin (+) group (4.79 ± 1.21%) (p = 0.005) and control group (0.00 ± 0.00%) (p = 0.000) at 4 weeks. Conclusions: Administration of both DBB and autograft stimulates calvarial bone defect regeneration, while combination of FG does not additionally accelerate new bone formation. Clinical relevance: The use of fibrin to cement traditional bone graft materials in oral clinical practice requires caution.