Fig. 9

Histological staining evaluation of the newly formed bone at 4-12 weeks after implantation of CPH and CPHI scaffolds in rabbit bone defects: A utilizes hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining to showcase the new bone formation in both CPH and CPHI scaffolds; B on the other hand, employs Masson's trichrome staining to demonstrate the distribution of the matrix. The quantitative data from Panels A and B are displayed in C and D, respectively. These data represent the mean relative values obtained from three independent experiments (mean ± SD). Significance levels are indicated as *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. The asterisk symbol (*) denotes significance compared to the defect control group, while the hashtag symbol (#) denotes significance compared to the CPH group. Moving on to E-G, micro-CT analysis is utilized to assess the new bone: E shows the micro-CT scan images indicating the level of regenerated bone tissue after 4-12 weeks, F represents the bone mineral density (BMD) of the regenerated bone tissue, while G illustrates the tissue connective density (Conn.Dn) of the regenerated bone tissue. Similar to C and D, the data in F and G are presented as mean relative values obtained from three independent experiments (mean ± SD). The significance levels are indicated as *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, with the asterisk symbol (*) denoting significance compared to the defect control group, and the hashtag symbol (#) denoting significance compared to 8 weeks. The red dotted circles in the images represent the defect areas. Reprinted with permission from [160]