Postmortem degradation of demineralized bone matrix osteoinductive potential. Effect of time and storage temperature.

: The osteoinductive growth factors present in demineralized bone are degraded by tissue enzymes. Storage of rat limbs at low temperature (4 degrees C) before harvesting of bones preserves the osteoinductive potential of such factors. Storage at room temperature for more than 24 hours causes the recovered bone matrix to be biologically inactive, presumably as the result of biodegradation.