INTRODUCTION: Defects with bone mass loss are frequently treated with bone autografts. Endografts of bones using biomaterials, such as hydroxyapatite (HA) also have been used for the same purpose, replacing autografts. However, bone tissue health conditions are basic for osteointegration of the implant. Thus, excessive tobacco consumption, either as an active or as a passive smoker, may harm the process of bone neoformation with a hydroxyapatite implant due to its deleterious effects to bone tissue. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the nutritional status of the animals and the process of bone neoformation when porous hydroxyapatite granules are implanted in bone defects of the femur of rats submitted to passive tobacco exposure. METHOD: Porous hydroxyapatite granules were implanted in bone defects produced in the left distal femoral epiphysis of rats subjected to prolonged passive tobacco exposure. The animals were followed along the treatment of tobacco exposure during six months, to evaluate their physical conditions. After eight weeks of the bone implant with the biomaterial, the animals were sacrificed and the specimens of the implant region were submitted to routine histological testing, and maintained in paraffin blocks for morphometric histological and radiological analysis. RESULTS: The mass variation of the experimental group was found to be more intense than that of the control group. As to radiological findings, the control group had an apparent more radio lucent and organized image. In the morphological analysis, there was a better closing of the bone defect and osteointegration of hydroxyapatite in the control group. Upon comparing the volume of bone formed in the receiving area of the femur between the control and the experimental group, the values found for the animals submitted to passive tobacco exposure was lower than that found for the control group. CONCLUSION: Bone neoformation in skeletal defects can occur naturally in animals submitted to passive tobacco exposure, but in a slower manner and in lower proportion.
Hydroxyapatite; Bone defect; Tobacco
