Bone & Joint Research (Oct 2020)

Bone mineral as a drug-seeking moiety and a waste dump: A review

  • Deepak Bushan Raina,
  • Yang Liu,
  • Otto L. P. Jacobson,
  • K Elizabeth Tanner,
  • Magnus Tägil,
  • Lars Lidgren

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1302/2046-3758.910.BJR-2020-0097.R1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 10
pp. 709 – 718

Abstract

Read online

Bone is a dynamic tissue with a quarter of the trabecular and a fifth of the cortical bone being replaced continuously each year in a complex process that continues throughout an individual’s lifetime. Bone has an important role in homeostasis of minerals with non-stoichiometric hydroxyapatite bone mineral forming the inorganic phase of bone. Due to its crystal structure and chemistry, hydroxyapatite (HA) and related apatites have a remarkable ability to bind molecules. This review article describes the accretion of trace elements in bone mineral giving a historical perspective. Implanted HA particles of synthetic origin have proved to be an efficient recruiting moiety for systemically circulating drugs which can locally biomodulate the material and lead to a therapeutic effect. Bone mineral and apatite however also act as a waste dump for trace elements and drugs, which significantly affects the environment and human health.

Keywords