Osteoinductive potential of demineralized rat bone increases with increasing donor age from birth to adulthood

Demineralized allogenic bone implanted in the subcutis or muscle of rodents causes formation of heterotopic bone by osteoinduction. The osteoinductive response may be weaker in primates than in rodents. It was suggested that the osteoinductive response of demineralized bone for clinical use could be enhanced by using young donors, because studies have indicated that the osteoinductive response is reduced in demineralized bone of old versus young donors. However, these findings may not represent a gradual decline in the osteoinductive property of bone matrix throughout the life span. We evaluated quantitatively, by uptake of strontium 85, the osteoinductive effect of demineralized bone matrix from newborn, 8-week-old (adolescent), and 8-month-old (adult) male Wistar rats implanted in the abdominal muscles of 8-week-old male Wistar rats. The osteoinductive response increased significantly with increasing donor age. The results of the present study, weighed with those of previous studies, indicate that the osteogenic potential of the bone matrix increases from newborn to adulthood but decreases in the aged rat. This may be due to changes in concentration of essential growth factors (e.g., bone morphogenetic proteins) resulting from maturational changes from birth to adulthood and osteoporotic changes occurring in later years. The results do not support the contention that young donors of demineralized bone are preferable to adult donors.