No effect of immunosuppression with cyclosporin: A detected on bone ingrowth into cancellous alio- and xenografts in the rat

Abstract

We studied the effects of the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A on bone ingrowth into alio- and xenografts in the rat using titanium bone chambers. The bone chambers were implanted bilaterally in the tibia. Each rat had one allograft and one xenograft. At 6 weeks the distance of soft tissue and bone ingrowth was measured on histological slides. In xenografts, soft-tissue ingrowth was only slightly less than in allografts, but the ingrown tissue became much less ossified. These differences were unaffected by cyclosporin A treatment, suggesting that the lesser amount of bone formation in xenografts is only weakly associated with T-cell-dependent immune reactions.