Osteogenic activity of human fracture haematoma-derived progenitor cells is stimulated by low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in vitro.

The haematoma occurring at the site of a fracture is known to play an important role in bone healing. We have recently shown the presence of progenitor cells in human fracture haematoma and demonstrated that they have the capacity for multilineage mesenchymal differentiation. There have been many studies which have shown that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) stimulates the differentiation of a variety of cells, but none has investigated the effects of LIPUS on cells derived from human fracture tissue including human fracture haematoma-derived progenitor cells (HCs). In this in vitro study, we investigated the effects of LIPUS on the osteogenic activity of HCs. Alkaline phosphatase activity, osteocalcin secretion, the expression of osteoblast-related genes and the mineralisation of HCs were shown to be significantly higher when LIPUS had been applied but without a change in the proliferation of the HCs. These findings provide evidence in favour of the use of LIPUS in the treatment of fractures.