Clinical Efficacy of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins

Fracture healing is a time-consuming process, concerning a relative young patient population. Five to 10 per cent of the fractures develop a complicated bone healing process resulting in either a delayed union or a non-union. The associated morbidity and costs related to fracture healing are considerable and treatment methods to accelerate the bone healing process have been studied intensively over the last decades. Several treatment methods for accelerating bone healing have been proposed, but one of the most promising techniques is the application of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). The BMPs were first described in 1965 by Urist, and these growth factors are capable of inducing de novo bone formation when implanted at heterotopic sites. Their osteoinductive capacity has been well-established in animal experiments. Some of the members of the BMP family, BMP-2 (InductOs™) and BMP-7/OP-1 (Osigraft™), have demonstrated their effectiveness and safety in clinical applications such as accelerating fresh fracture healing, treatment of bone defects and non-unions, and promoting spinal fusion. So, BMPs will offer a great therapeutic potential for replacing or augmenting current surgical strategies for the enhancement of bone repair in the forthcoming years.