Medicina (Kaunas) 2003; 39 (10): 940-945

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Callus area and glycosaminoglycans content of the traumatized tibia in rats

Piret Hussar, Ülo Hussar

Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia

Key words: post-traumatic, bone repair, callus, osteotomy, perforation.

Summary. The aim of the present work is the quantification of the post-traumatic bone healing histology (total callus morphometry) and histochemistry of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) content (microspectrometry) in rats tibia after segment osteotomy and bicortical perforation of trained and immobilized animals.

Material and methods. A quantified investigation of post-traumatic bone repair histology and GAG content after osteotomy and perforation of tibia in 105 young adult male Wistar rats has been performed. The repair was studied in normal and affected (training and immobilization) animals at 1–42 days after operation.

Results. The posttraumatic bone repair is an ordinary process of osteohisto- and organogenesis, and dependent on the environment factors (mode and degree of trauma, training of animals, etc.). The repair is trauma-dependent; after osteotomy the total callus area is significantly larger respectively to perforation. Otherwise, the training did not significantly influence the repair callus area and GAG content and therefore did not accelerate the bone repair, whereas the immobilization of animals depressed these processes and the bone repair was inhibited.

Conclusions. Quantified study of histology and histochemistry of bone repair after perforation gave important new, more detailed results on the reparative histogenesis of the bone tissues: repair dynamics of callus areas, dynamics of GAG concentration, effects of mode and degree of trauma, training and immobilization on the repair process.

Correspondence to Ü. Hussar, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, 50411 Tartu, Estonia. E-mail: hussar@ut.ee

Received 13 June 2003, accepted 29 September 2003