Review of the Literature on the Current State of Periosteum-Mediated Craniofacial Bone Regeneration

Study Design This is an article review on the current state of periosteum-mediated bone regeneration (PMBR). It is a known mandibular reconstruction option in children, and though poorly understood and unpredictable, the concerns of developmental changes to donor and recipient tissues shared by other treatment options are nonexistent. The definitive role of periosteum during bone regeneration remains largely unknown. Objective The objective is to review the literature on the clinical and molecular mechanism evidence of this event. Methods Our search methodology was modeled after the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Search strategies were categorized into search 1 for clinical evidence of mandibular regeneration and search 2 for gene expression review for craniofacial regeneration. The quality assessment of each publication was undertaken, and inclusion criteria comprise mandibular continuity defect for search 1 and use of gene expression assay propriety kit for search 2. Results 33 studies were selected for search 1 while four studies with non-human subjects were selected for search 2. Monitoring of PMBR onset was advised at 2 weeks post-operative, and the gene expression results showed an upregulation of genes responsible for angiogenesis, cytokine activities, and immune–inflammatory response in week 1 and skeletal development and signaling pathways in week 2. Conclusions The results suggest that young periosteum has a higher probability of PMBR than adult periosteum, and skeletal morphogenesis regulated by skeletal developmental genes and pathways may characterize the gene expression patterns of PMBR.