ABILITY OF COMMERCIAL DEMINERALIZED FREEZE-DRIED BONE ALLOGRAFT TO INDUCE NEW BONE-FORMATION IS DEPENDENT ON DONOR AGE BUT NOT GENDER

DEMINERALIZED FREEZE-DRIED BONE ALLOGRAFTS (DFDBA) have been used exte nsively in periodontal therapy. DFDBA is used because it contains bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), which induces new bone formation during the healing process. Most commercial bone banks do not verify the pres ence or activity of BMP in DFDBA nor the ability of DFDBA to induce ne w bone. Recently, we showed that different bone bank preparations of D FDBA, even from the same bank, varied considerably in their ability to induce new bone, suggesting inherent differences in the quality of th e material. Therefore, we examined whether donor age or gender contrib uted to the variability seen with these preparations. Twenty-seven bat ches of DFDBA from different donors were donated by one bone bank whic h had been shown previously to supply DFDBA that was consistently able to induce new bone formation. Each batch was implanted bilaterally in the thigh muscle of nude mice. After 56 days, the implants were excis ed and examined by light microscopy and histomorphometry. Seventy perc ent of the preparations tested induced new bone formation. Most of the se preparations produced ossicles containing cortical bone surrounding bone marrow-like tissue. The ability to induce bone appears to be age -dependent, with DFDBA from older donors being less likely to have str ong bone-inducing activity. By contrast, no difference in ability to i nduce new bone was noticed between male or female donors. The results of this study confirm that commercial preparations of DFDBA differ in their ability to induce new bone formation. In fact, some of the batch es had no activity at all. The ability of DFDBA to induce new bone for mation is suggested to be age-dependent, but not gender-dependent by o ur study. These results indicate that commercial bone banks need to ve rify the ability of DFDBA to induce new bone formation and should reco nsider the advisability of using bone from older donors.