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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Dec 18, 2025; 16(12): 111046
Published online Dec 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i12.111046
Published online Dec 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i12.111046
Biodegradable materials: Applications and advances of magnesium alloys in bone defects
Jing-Shun Lu, Yuan-Sheng Huang, Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Yijishan Hospital, Wuhu 241000, Anhui Province, China
Zeng-Gao Han, Southern Central Hospital of Yunnan Province, The First People’s Hospital of Honghe State, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Mengzi 661100, Yunnan Pro
Chen-Yu Song, Kai-Yang Wang, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200233, China
Min Yang, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Meilong Community Health Service Center of Minhang District, Shanghai 200233, China
Author contributions: Lu JS and Yang M wrote and edited the manuscript; Song CY, Huang YS, and Han ZG contributed to review and edit; Wang KY conceived, reviewed, and revised this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kai-Yang Wang, MD, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai 200233, China. ortho_wang@163.com
Received: June 24, 2025
Revised: July 28, 2025
Accepted: November 13, 2025
Published online: December 18, 2025
Processing time: 178 Days and 23.1 Hours
Revised: July 28, 2025
Accepted: November 13, 2025
Published online: December 18, 2025
Processing time: 178 Days and 23.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Degradable magnesium (Mg) alloys have been extensively utilized in the treatment of bone defects owing to their superior mechanical properties, excellent biocompatibility, and potent osteogenic capabilities. Mg alloys enhance bone tissue regeneration via multiple mechanisms, including the bone-nerve circuit, promotion of vascular regeneration, modulation of the immune microenvironment, and upregulation of osteogenic signaling pathways. Additionally, Mg alloys have been engineered into diverse application forms, such as Mg-infused metallic scaffolds and Mg-based bone regeneration mem