Yale scientists develop technique to create new bone

It will now be possible to initiate rapid formation of new bone at targeted locations in the body, for researchers have come up with a technique that combines bone marrow removal and injection of a hormone.

Washington, Feb 15 : It will now be possible to initiate rapid formation of new bone at targeted locations in the body, for researchers have come up with a technique that combines bone marrow removal and injection of a hormone.

The study led by Agnès Vignery, associate professor of orthopedics at Yale School of Medicine was done in collaboration with Unigene Laboratories, Inc.

"This could radically change the way patients are currently treated for weakened or fractured hips, vertebrae and acute traumatic long bone fractures," said Vignery.

According to her, present day treatment involves the requirement of surgery and artificial materials and often results in imperfect outcomes.

"The ideal approach would be to create new bone where it is needed and at a faster rate," she said.

The study assessed the effect of bone marrow removal from particular sites after daily injections of anabolic agents such as parathyroid hormone (PTH).

Vignery said that this procedure creates new bone tissue that appears structurally and biologically normal and that provides the targeted bone with improved biomechanical properties at a rate and extent that would not be achievable by anabolic therapy alone.

"We have shown that it is the synergistic effect of mechanical marrow ablation and PTH that allows for this new bone to fill the marrow cavity," she said.

She also said that additional studies are in progress that widen the results of this work in other animals and will determine whether the newly formed bone can be preserved over a long period of time.

The study is published this month in Tissue Engineering.

ANI