THE CORRELATION BETWEEN IMMUNE REJECTION AND OSTEOINDUCTION OF ALLOGENEIC BONE-GRAFTING

Objective To evaluate the relationship between the immune rejection an d the osteoinductive potential of bone allograft. Methods Allogeneic a nd syngeneic fresh bone, autolyzed antigen-extracted bone, bone matrix gelatin and demineralized bone matrix were implanted into the muscle of mice, and immunological tests, histological observation and alkalin e phosphatase assay were performed. Results Three and 6 weeks after im plantation, all kinds of allogeneic implants activated immune rejectio n, among them, fresh bone induced the most vigorous immune rejection a nd bone matrix gelatin caused the weakest response. Allogeneic autolyz ed antigen-extracted bone, bone matrix gelatin and demineralized bone matrix inhibited proliferation of the lymphocytes in vitro and bone ma trix gelatin had the most powerful inhibiting effect. Both allogeneic and syngeneic autolyzed antigen-extracted bone, bone matrix gelatin, a nd demineralized bone matrix induced heterotopic osteogenesis in vivo and bone matrix gelatin had the best osteoinductive capacity. Conclusi on There is a negative correlation between immune rejection to bone al lograft and osteoinductive capacity of the graft.