Macrophages in the process of osseointegration around the implant and their regulatory strategies

ABSTRACT

Purpose/Aim of the study

To summarize and discuss macrophage properties and their roles and mechanisms in the process of osseointegration in a comprehensive manner, and to provide theoretical support and research direction for future implant surface modification efforts.

Materials and methods

Based on relevant high-quality articles, this article reviews the role of macrophages in various stages of osseointegration and methods of implant modification.

Results and conclusions

Macrophages not only promote osseointegration through immunomodulation, but also secrete a variety of cytokines, which play a key role in the angiogenic and osteogenic phases of osseointegration. There is no “good” or “bad” difference between the M1 and M2 phenotypes of macrophages, but their timely presence and sequential switching play a crucial role in implant osseointegration. In the implant surface modification strategy, the induction of sequential activation of the M1 and M2 phenotypes of macrophages is a brighter prospect for implant surface modification than inducing the polarization of macrophages to the M1 or M2 phenotypes individually, which is a promising pathway to enhance the effect of osseointegration and increase the success rate of implant surgery.

KEYWORDS:

• Macrophage
• osteointegration
• osteoimmunity
• regulation
• implant

Acknowledgments

Xin Fang and Jinghui Zhao would like to sincerely thank the Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department, Jilin Provincial Natural Science, and Jilin Provincial Science and Technology for their support. Both authors would also like to thank the following colleagues for many fruitful discussions on this topic: Duo Sun, Yongli Li, Xiao Han, Yulu Gan, Junjie Jiao, Mengyuan Jiang, Heyi Gong, Yuanzheng Qi.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Preside over the project

1. Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department, Jilin Provincial Natural Science Foundation (YDZJ202201ZYTSO78), 100 thousand, 2022.07–2023.08

2. Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department, Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Development Plan Project (20200403094SF), 120 thousand, 2020.01–2022.12

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department, Jilin Provincial Natural Science Foundation (YDZJ202201ZYTSO78), 100 thousand, 2022.07-2023.08 [YDZJ202201ZYTSO78]; Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department, Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Development Plan Project (20200403094SF), 120 thousand, 2020.01-2022.12 [20200403094SF].