Bioactive implants with incorporated IGF-I and TGF-beta1 accelerate fracture healing

Purpose

Bioactive implants could accelerate ¿bone metabolism and reduce local and systemic problems in fracture treatment and joint replacement. Former studies investigated the properties of a new ¿Poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) coating on metallic implants for the local applica¿tion of drugs. The coating demonstrated a high mechanical stability during intramedullary insertion. The incorporated growth factors showed a continuous release of 80 % within six weeks after an initial peak [1]. In histomorphometric and biomechanical studies in rats, we found a significant acceleration of fracture healing by locally released rh-IGF-I and rh-TGF-β1 [2].

The purpose of this study was the evaluation of this bioactive coating of implants in a large animal model.

References

• 1 Schmidmaier G. et al .Orthopaedic Research Society 1999
• 2 Schmidmaier G. et al . Bone. 2001;  28 4