Cytokine release kinetics of concentrated growth factors in different scaffolds

Objectives: Concentrated growth factors (CGF) exhibit superior potential for periodontal tissue regeneration; however, little is known about the release pattern of CGF over time. This study was designed to investigate the in vitro release pattern of growth factors and cytokines from CGF in deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) and intrafibrillarly-mineralized collagen (IMC). Materials and methods: CGF, CGF mixed with DBBM (CGF-DBBM), and CGF mixed with IMC (CGF-IMC) were cultured in vitro for 28 days and media supernatants were collected after 24 h, 72 h, and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days respectively. The factors investigated included platelet-derived growth factor-BB, transforming growth factor beta 1, vascular endothelial growth factor, insulin-like growth factor 1, basic fibroblast growth factor, C3a, and C5a. Results: We found that CGF-IMC released the highest total amount of cytokines compared to CGF and CGF-DBBM (p < 0.01). Growth factors were continuously released till 28 days. The release curves of most growth factors and cytokines included two peaks at 24 h and during 14 to 28 days. CGF-IMC released much more growth factors than CGF and CGF-DBBM during 14 to 28 days. Conclusions: Within the limitation of the study, CGF-IMC offers advantages over CGF-DBBM and CGF for sustained release of growth factors and cytokines. Clinical relevance: This study provides strong evidence for clinical use of IMC used as a new carrier for CGF in periodontal regeneration. We need more studies to investigate the effect of sustained release of growth factors in tissue regeneration.