Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) plays a unique role in bone remodeling. However, to our knowledge, no data on the role of M-CSF in fracture healing in humans have been published so far. This study addressed this issue. One hundred and thirteen patients with long-bone fractures were included in the study and divided into two groups, according to their course of fracture healing. The first group contained 103 patients with normal fracture healing. Ten patients with impaired fracture healing formed the second group of the study. Volunteers donated blood samples as control. Serum samples were collected over a period of 6 months, following a standardized time schedule. In addition, M-CSF levels were measured in fracture hematoma and serum of 11 patients with bone fractures. M-CSF concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Fracture hematoma contained significantly higher M-CSF concentrations compared to M-CSF concentrations in patient's serum. M-CSF levels in fracture hematoma and in patient's serum were both significantly higher than M-CSF concentrations measured in serum of healthy controls. Highly elevated M-CSF serum concentrations were found in patients with physiological fracture healing over the entire observation period. Significant differences in the M-CSF serum concentration between patients with normal fracture healing and patients with impaired fracture healing were not observed. This study indicates, for the first time, to our knowledge, a possible local and systemic involvement of M-CSF in humans during fracture healing.
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