Bone morphogenetic proteins an update and review

Abstract

The use of biological factors for bone regeneration has revolutionized the management of fracture repair and spinal fusion. Various biological factors, such as bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), fibroblast growth factors (FGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), insulin like growth factors (IGFs) and LIM mineralization protein-1(LMP-1), have been investigated for application in bone regeneration and skeletal repair. Even though autologous bone graft remains the gold standard for most orthopaedic procedures, the procedure suffers from significant disadvantages and hence different and novel approaches are being sought to achieve effective bone regeneration. Bone Morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) as a viable substitute to autologous bone graft have been the subject of intense research in the last few decades and have followed a long and iterative process to provide a burden of proof for clinical use at present time. In this review the focus is on growth and differentiation factors, specifically the bone morphogenetic proteins, which are of major experimental interest, the aim being the clinical use and acceptance of BMPs in the healing of large segmental bone defects.