Tridax Procumbens Flavonoids Stimulated Synergistic Effects on BMP-2-Induced Bone Regeneration in Critical-Sized of Calvarial Defect

Abstract

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 is widely used as an effective growth factor to promote bone regeneration for improving bone repair. The ability of BMP-2 to induce bone regeneration relies heavily on requiring large amounts for its short half-life, thereby causing side effects such as cancer and inflammation. Combination therapies using BMP-2 with bioactive agents that can reduce the required amount of BMP-2 have been developed. Recently, we found that Tridax procumbens flavonoids (TPF) stimulated osteoblast differentiation which was demonstrated by increasing of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and type 1 collagen. This study aimed to assess whether TPF elicits synergistic effects on BMP-2 induced local bone regeneration. A calvarial defect model was employed in C57BL/6 male mice. TPF combination with BMP-2 was implanted on the defect sites. The mice were sacrificed on day 28 after implantation. The radiographic and histomorphometric analyses were performed to assess the healing of the defects. The radiographic analyses of the defect sites showed that TPF with BMP-2 group led to higher bone regeneration compared to BMP-2 only group. Histomorphometric analyses showed that the bone regeneration parameters were significantly higher when TPF with BMP-2 was used. Our data suggest that TPF could enhance the stimulatory effects of BMP-2-induced bone regeneration in critical-sized defect of mice.