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Models suggest bone-marrow cell treatments for fracture nonunions
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New models, reinforced by in vivo experimentation, show why 5% to10% of bone fractures don’t heal properly, and how these cases may be treated to restart the healing process. Results of the model, published September 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, may benefit the aging population in which the occurrence of bone fractures is expected to rise substantially in the near future.
Five-percent to 10% of fracture cases end up having delayed unions or nonunions. Using a combination of an animal model mimicking a clinical nonunion situation and a mathematical model developed for studying normal fracture healing, researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium; University of Liège, in Belgium; Edinburgh University; and Oxford University, both in the U.K., investigated this health problem.
The researchers investigated the potential to treat nonunions by transplanting cells from the bone marrow to the fracture site. They reportedly found an added value of using a combination of mathematical modeling and experimental research, as well the potential of using cell transplantation for the treatment of nonunions.
Through animal experiments and simulations, they showed the formation of a bony union between the fractured bone ends. In addition, the researchers used the mathematical model to explain some unexpected experimental observations.
Reference:
Geris L, Reed AAC, Vander Sloten J, et al. Occurrence and Treatment of Bone Atrophic Non-Unions Investigated by an Integrative Approach. PLoS Comput Biol 6(9): e1000915. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000915.