KOCHI:
A team of researchers in CUSAT successfully developed ‘Porous Biodegradable Scaffolds for Regenerative Bone Tissue Engineering’ from well-known medicinal plant Changalamparanda. The material is supportive of healing bone defects holding pronounced clinical relevance. The defects could be originated by trauma, surgical procedures or infections related to the bone. When the body’s mechanism fails to rectify bone defects as defect dimensions exceed the critical size, this will give adequate support to augment bone defect repair. The research team was guided by Dr G.S. Sailaja. The other team members are Praseetha R. Nair, Sreeja S.
Traditional Ayurveda, we use the herb Changalamparanda known as ‘Bonesetter’ to heal damages to bones. The glorious properties of Changalamparanda fibers have been studied and proven in cells.The tissue engineering scaffold we have designed is herbally brid composite composed of microfibers of Cissus Quandrangularis (CQ),extracted from a widely explored traditional Indian medicinal plant Changalamparanda and a biodegradable clinically relevant polymer, polycaprolactone.
The fine-size CQ fibres reframe the mechanical properties and impart a controlled degradation profile ensuring the sufficient retention time for the scaffold until the defect is repaired. After the bone repair function, the material subsequently degrades. Such a synergetic combination would benefit regeneration phase by circumventing secondary surgical procedures that are being practiced generally to remove metal-based and other non-degradable implants after the unintended service time in the body. Besides early bio- mineralization and expression of bone specific marker proteins, the porous architecture aids easy transport of nutrients and specific cells to towards the defects and accelerate the tissue regeneration process. In practice, this herbal scaffold delivers
anative analogous environment to regenerate the bone through sequential cellular and molecular events, which undoubtedly presents a patient-friendly approach that minimizes secondary invasive procedures.
