Magnesium Biomaterials Show Promise for Bone Healing Despite Challenges
- Authors
- Jiaxin Wu, Xinting Cheng, Jicenyuan Wu, Junyu Chen, Xibo Pei
- Journal
- Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B, Applied Biomaterials
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1002/jbm.b.35326
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Bone Defects
- Body System
- Musculoskeletal
TL;DR
Scientists found that magnesium could be an awesome material for fixing broken bones because it's super strong and safe for your body, but it breaks down too fast and releases stuff that gets in the way of healing—so researchers are working on ways to slow down how quickly it breaks apart so it actually works in real bone repair situations.
Key Finding
Magnesium-based bone repair materials show promise due to their strength and safety, but their rapid breakdown in the body—which releases excess magnesium and hydrogen—remains a major obstacle to clinical use.
Summary
This article reviews research on magnesium-based materials used to help repair large or complex bone defects. These materials are attractive because they are strong and safe in the body, but they break down too quickly when implanted, releasing too much magnesium and hydrogen gas. Scientists are working to slow this breakdown process by mixing magnesium with other elements, coating it, or combining it with other materials to improve how well it helps bones heal.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article, not a new study, and does not test hydrogen water or hydrogen's effects on humans. While it mentions hydrogen as a byproduct of magnesium breakdown in bone implants, it does not provide evidence relevant to drinking hydrogen water for health purposes.
Abstract
Bone regeneration is a vital clinical challenge in massive or complicated bone defects. Recently, bone tissue engineering has come to the fore to meet the demand for bone repair with various innovative materials. However, the reported materials usually cannot satisfy the requirements, such as ideal mechanical and osteogenic properties, as well as biocompatibility at the same time. Mg-based biomaterials have considerable potential in bone tissue engineering owing to their excellent mechanical strength and biosafety. Moreover, the biocompatibility and osteogenic activity of Mg-based biomaterials have been the research focuses in recent years. The main limitation faced in the applications of Mg-based biomaterials is rapid degradation, which can produce excessive Mg2+ and hydrogen, affecting the healing of the bone defect. In order to overcome the limitations, researchers have explored several ways to improve the properties of Mg-based biomaterials, including alloying, surface modification with coatings, and synthesizing other composite materials to control the degradation rate upon implantation. This article reviewed the osteogenic mechanism and requirement for appropriate degradation rate and focused on current progress in the biomedical use of Mg-based biomaterials to inspire more clinical applications of Mg in bone regeneration in the future.