Impact of Harvesting Method and Donor Age on the Behavior of Human Osteoblast-Like Cells.

This article investigates how bone harvesting technique, donor age, and donor site affect the proliferation and differentiation of human osteoblast-like cells derived from autogenous particulate bone grafts used in oral implantology. The study compared bone chips collected at low drilling speeds without irrigation to bone sludge collected at high speeds with saline irrigation, finding that bone chips exhibited significantly higher cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, and calcium deposition, indicating superior osteogenic potential. Donor age influenced cell outgrowth and proliferation, with samples from patients aged 60 or younger showing greater osteogenic activity than those from older donors, while donor site (maxilla vs. mandible) had minimal impact. These findings suggest that harvesting bone chips at lower speeds without irrigation is preferable for obtaining viable osteogenic cells for grafting, and that younger donor age may enhance graft efficacy; however, further in vivo studies are recommended to confirm these results.