Issue 22/2021 - New materials promise to alleviate osteoporosis

Recently, researchers from the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering of Guangdong Academy of Sciences and the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University constructed a degradable porous bone repair biomaterial loaded with trace element strontium, and found that it can promote the repair of critical size skull defects in osteoporosis rats, and provide a new entry point
for the subsequent development of osteoporosis and bone defect therapy.

As the world ages, osteoporosis has endangered more than 200 million people
.
Once a fracture occurs in patients with osteoporosis, it is difficult to completely regenerate and heal
the bone defect formed.
Based on the concept of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, the development of an artificial bone repair biomaterial that can restore the balance of bone resorption, inhibit inflammation and promote the regeneration of new blood vessels is crucial
for the repair of osteoporosis bone defects.

In this study, the trace element strontium that promotes the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells and inhibits the activity of osteoclasts was selected, and the biomaterial that can slowly release strontium ions - strontium hydrogen phosphate cluster particles was designed and synthesized, and together with the silk fibroin-gelatin composite biomaterial with adjustable mechanical and degradation properties, a porous scaffold composed of biomimetic bone was constructed, and the optimal ratio
between inorganic and organic substances was screened according to degradation, mechanical properties and osteogenesis/osteoclastic activity.