SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Skeletal Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1641937
3D printed scaffolds loaded with BMP-2 for bone defect regeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
- 2Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
- 3Rehabilitation Medicine and Engineering Key Laboratory of Luzhou, Luzhou, China
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printing technology and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) represent promising strategies for promoting bone regeneration. This systematic review aims to assess the effects of 3D printed scaffolds loaded with BMP-2 on bone regeneration in preclinical studies. We conducted a search in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected and evaluated original research articles investigating on the effects of 3D printed scaffolds loaded with BMP-2 in vivo bone regeneration. The selected studies underwent bias risk assessment and sensitivity analysis. We then performed a random effects meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of BMP-2 loaded 3D printed scaffolds, with results presented as standardized mean differences (SMD) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on animal species, size of bone defects, and treatment duration. This review included 17 studies for meta-analysis. The results indicated that BMP-2 loaded 3D printed scaffolds significantly increased both the bone volume to total volume ratio (BV/TV) (2. 15 [1.14, 3.16]), the percentage of new bone volume (3.07 [1.86, 4.28]), and the percentage of new bone area (3.93 [1.51, 6.35]). Preclinical evidence substantiates the capacity of BMP-2-functionalized 3D-printed scaffolds to promote bone regeneration through spatially controlled osteoinductive signaling. These findings provide important insights for the future application of such scaffolds in bone regeneration or repair in subsequent research.
Keywords: 3D printing, BMP-2, Bone Regeneration, Systematic review, Meta-analysis Abbreviations 3D Three-dimensional
Received: 05 Jun 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Yang, Yang, Zhu, Shi, Deng, Wang and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fuhua Sun, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
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