2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (22): 3556-3565

Research hotspots of magnesium alloy biomaterials in an in vivo animal

Guo Yangyan1, Yu Zhengwen2, Zhang Jian1   

Abstract: BACKGROUND:   As a new generation of biodegradable materials, magnesium alloy has good mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and degradability, which is one of the research hotspots in the field of biomaterials.
OJECTIVE: To summarize current status and problems of magnesium alloy biomaterials in animals in recent years.
METHODS: The articles were searched by using the databases of PubMed and CNKI. The key words were “metal biomaterials, degradable metals, magnesium alloy materials, magnesium-based implants, vascular stents, animal experiment, corrosion rate, biosafety” in Chinese and in English. As a result, 70 articles were applied after reading and analyzing the titles and abstracts of the articles published between January 2016 and June 2021.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The safety and degradation rate of magnesium alloy are the main influencing factors for its clinical application as a biodegradable biomedical material. (2) Magnesium alloy has great potential in internal fixation of fracture, repair of bone defect after bone tumor operation, ligament fixation and coronary artery stenosis as vascular stent. Magnesium alloy has excellent histocompatibility and no potential safety hazard in short-term application, but there is still no long-term biosafety research result. (3) The magnesium alloy stent can support blood vessels in the early stage of vascular lesion. After the normal function of the blood vessels in this part is restored, the stent is absorbed and metabolized by the body. When the vascular stenosis and obstruction occur again, the magnesium alloy stent can be implanted again to achieve the purpose of repeated repair. (4) At present, magnesium alloy has become a hot material in the field of medical device research, but the current research results are only obtained in animal experiments or small-sample clinical trials. (5) At present, researchers have basically reached a consensus that magnesium alloy alloying, surface treatment and preparation of composite materials can effectively solve its safety problems and the defects of fast degradation rate. However, previous studies have shown that there is still a lack of standardized reference standards for animal selection, implant preparation, and evaluation methods in magnesium alloy experiments. (6) Therefore, it is necessary to perfect and formulate relevant reference standards for magnesium alloy experiments in the future for the development of rigorous and good preclinical research, which will also provide strong theoretical support for the effectiveness and safety evaluation of magnesium alloy materials.
Key words: metal biomaterials, degradable metals, magnesium alloy materials, magnesium-based implants, vascular stents, animal experiment, corrosion rate, biosafety