Preservation and promotion of bone formation in the mandible as a response to a novel calcium-phosphate based biomaterial in mineral deficiency induced low bone mass male versus female rats

Calcium and other trace mineral supplements have previously demonstrated to safely improve bone quality. We hypothesize that our novel calcium-phosphate based biomaterial (SBM) preserves and promotes mandibular bone formation in male and female rats on mineral deficient diet (MD). Sixty Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive one of three diets (n = 10): basic diet (BD), MD or mineral deficient diet with 2% SBM. Rats were sacrificed after 6 months. Micro-computed tomography (µCT) was used to evaluate bone volume and 3D-microarchitecture while microradiography (Faxitron) was used to measure bone mineral density from different sections of the mandible. Results showed that bone quality varied with region, gender and diet. MD reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and volume and increased porosity. SBM preserved BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) in the alveolar bone and condyle in both genders. In the alveolar crest and mandibular body, while preserving more bone in males, SBM also significantly supplemented female bone. Results indicate that mineral deficiency leads to low bone mass in skeletally immature rats, comparatively more in males. Furthermore, SBM administered as a dietary supplement was effective in preventing mandibular bone loss in all subjects. This study suggests that the SBM preparation has potential use in minimizing low peak bone mass induced by mineral deficiency and related bone loss irrespective of gender. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 1622–1632, 2016.