Introduction: Bony allografts are used frequently in the clinic for bone defect filling, however, less comparative data concerning their osteoinductive potential are available.
Aim: The purpose of the present study was the comparative analysis of different allograft preparations. From five donors, we investigated fresh-frozen cancellous bone (native), peracetic acid–ethanol sterilized (PES) cancellous bone, cortical bone and demineralised bone matrix (DBM). In addition, two commercially available DBM products from five different donors were analyzed: Allomatrix® (Wright Medical Technology Inc.) and DBX putty® (Synthes GmbH). For positive control and as a clinically used growth factor, BMP-2 was chosen.
Method: To investigate the osteoinductivity C2C12 cells were cultured with the different materials and the effect on cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity were measured.
Result: Proliferation was significantly enhanced by the native cancellous bone, Allomatrix, and BMP-2 and decreased by the PES-processed cancellous bone. The osteogenic differentiation was significantly enhanced by BMP-2 and the two commercial DBM products and decreased by PES-sterilized cancellous bone. All tested materials revealed a high donor-dependent variability. This is the first comparative study on the osteoinductivity of bony allografts frequently used in clinic.