Osteoporosis and biomaterial osteointegration

Biomaterial osteointegration depends not only on the properties of the implanted material but also on the characteristics and regenerative capability of the host bone. For this reason, researchers involved in biomaterial evaluation now place great importance on the various pathologies often present in orthopaedic patients which can negatively affect the success of surgical implants. Osteoporosis is undoubtedly one of the most frequently encountered of such diseases. Models reproducing the osteoporotic condition can be useful to understand the influence of the pathology on cell behaviour, bone regeneration and osteointegration processes, thus increasing our basic knowledge and allowing the development of surgical techniques and implant biomaterials more suitable for use in the surgical treatment of fractures in osteoporotic patients. The present paper is a literature review and, after a short description of how the presence of osteoporosis could influence bone regenerative processes, the results of the main studies on biomaterial biocompatibility and osteointegration both in vitro and in vivo in the presence of osteoporotic condition are reported. Both cell cultures and animal models are able to demonstrate the different response of bone to biomaterials by comparing healthy and pathological conditions. The use of pathological bone-derived cells and pathological animals is therefore recommended to test candidate orthopaedic materials. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.