Biopolymers for enhancement of bone regeneration

The bones support a human throughout their whole lives. People have been breaking bones since ancient times due to accidents that result in severe injuries, dangerous sports, auto accidents, aging, and bone diseases (low bone density, osteogenesis imperfecta, osteoporosis, infections, cancer, Paget's disease, and other bone diseases caused by problems with bone growth, inadequate nutrition, or genetics, or rebuilding)1. Currently, autologous bone grafts are preferred over allografts and xenografts (which come from animals) for bone restoration. However, these therapies have several drawbacks, including donor scarcity and donor site morbidity2,3. Contrarily, artificial grafts and allogeneic (genetically distinct) are pricey, may cause an inflammatory response and spread illness, can be challenging to produce, and have limited osteogenic or osteoconductive capabilities4. According to certain studies, various processes, such as corrosion, cause the release of metal ions into the surrounding tissues (from Ni–Ti, CoCr Mo–Ni–Fe, Ti alloys, stainless steel, and pure Ti). A common hypothesis for clinical failure or a dermal allergic response is the discharge of metal ions5. Metal materials have high mechanical qualities but often do not interact with body cells and are stronger than natural bone, which can cause stress shielding, bone loss, and bone relaxation6. Metals, ceramics, and polymers are the three main biomaterial categories utilized to create scaffolds7,8. Their various characteristics serve various functions, such as biodegradability, which is great in scaffolds for bone regeneration but less so in load-bearing devices9. Metals and alloys may be divided into three categories: cobalt-based alloys, stainless steels, and titanium- and titanium alloy-based alloys, all of which are biocompatible, reasonably priced, and have good mechanical characteristics2,10. Inorganic, nonmetallic substances, such as carbon, bioglass, and glass ceramics, are grouped together in the second class of biomaterials known as ceramics11,12. Lastly, biopolymers are biodegradable polymers that may be derived from plant or animal sources but are not always. Additionally, they may originate from bacterial or natural sources13,14. Tissue engineering makes extensive use of polymers, which are often categorized as natural or synthetic. Many of them have proven to have the good mechanical, biocompatible, and biodegradable qualities needed for bone regeneration and tissue engineering2. When a piece of the injured joint is replaced with a plastic, metal, and ceramic device complex, total joint replacement surgery is the greatest alternative15. Porosity, biocompatibility, surface roughness, mechanical properties, biodegradability, and interactions between the substitute and body cells for function (proliferation, adhesion, gene expression, and differentiation) are desirable requirements for bone substitute materials. Bio-polymeric scaffolds were used due to the implants' long-term failure13. Biopolymers are particularly promising as biomaterials for making medical devices and bone replacements because of their excellent biocompatibility, tunable chemical composition and biodegradation, and capacity for reorganization. Ethical approval Not applicable. Consent Not applicable. Sources of funding No funding was received. Author contribution S.Z.: conceptualization, data curation, writing – original draft preparation, and writing – reviewing and editing; H.H., M.D., and I.B.A.: writing – reviewing and editing, visualization, and supervision; A.A.A. and A.S.: data curation, writing – original draft preparation, and writing – reviewing and editing; M.Z.: data curation and writing – original draft. Conflicts of interest disclosure The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Research registration unique identifying number (UIN) Not applicable. Guarantor Ali Alnazza Alhamad, PhD; PhD Student in Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria; Tel: +963 945 826; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9401-12181218 Provenance and peer review Not applicable. Data availability statement Not applicable.