Isolation Yield and Osteogenic Potential of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells are Maintained Irrespective of Age or Gender

The relationships between donor age and gender and initial isolation yield and the osteogenic potentials of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) have not been clearly elucidated. The authors investigated whether isolation yields and the osteogenic differentiation potentials of hBMSCs are indeed dependent on donor age or gender. Fresh bone marrow was aspirated from iliac crest of 72 donors (mean age 54.1 years; range, 23-84 years; 39 men and 33 women) undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Numbers of mononuclear cells, numbers of colony forming unit-fibroblasts (CFU-Fs) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-positive CFU-Fs, and numbers of BMSCs after isolation culture were not found to be significantly dependent on donor age or gender. Moreover, no significant age- or gender-related differences were observed in terms of the proliferation activities, ALP activities, and calcium contents of BMSCs during in vitro osteogenic differentiation. The data obtained from 72 human donors revealed no significant age- or genderrelated differences among hBMSCs in terms of isolation yields, proliferation activities, and osteogenic potentials.