The increase in aging population has led to a rising prevalence of osteoporosis (OP). Evidence suggests a close relationship between OP and hematopoiesis and emerging proofs hint towards critical roles of platelets (PLTs), unique blood elements and rich in growth factors (GFs) in bone remodeling.

A new study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences evaluated how PLT features, size, volume, bioactive GFs released, existing GFs in PLTs and PLT derivatives change and behave during OP.

The present study entailed a systematic search from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases to identify preclinical and clinical studies in the last 10 years on PLT function/features and growth factor in PLTs and on PLT derivatives during OP.

Overall, 23 articles were selected for the analysis – 13 on PLT function/features and growth factor in PLTs and 10 on PLT derivatives. The findings revealed that the risk of bias of almost all animal studies was high, while the in clinical studies the risk of bias was prevalently moderate/low in mostinstances. A majority of the studies evaluated, highlighted a positive correlation between PLT size or volume and bone mineralization, as well as an improvement in bone regeneration ability by using PLTs bioactive GFs and PLT derivatives.

From the results, it was concluded that the application of PLT features as OP markers and of PLT-derived compounds as therapeutic approach to promote bone healing during OP need to be further confirmed to provide clear evidence for the real efficacy of these interventions and to contribute to clinical translation.

Source: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020 Mar 4;21(5). pii: E1762. doi: 10.3390/ijms21051762.