Insulin enhancement of in vitro wound healing in fetal rat parietal bones.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated the effect of insulin on fracture in fetal rat intramembranous bone using an organ culture system in which bone mineralizes in vitro.


METHODS
Twenty-day-old fetal rat parietal bones were fractured parallel to the frontal plane and cultured in a serum-free medium with or without insulin for 4 to 12 days. They were then processed for light microscopy.


RESULTS
In the specimens not treated with insulin, bony bridges were observed in less than 10% on day 4 and 8, and only 45% on day 12. In bones treated with insulin at 10(-6) mol/L, bony bridges were observed in 73% on day 4 and 100% on day 8 and 12. No callus or cartilage formation was observed during the wound repair process, indicating that intramembranous ossification occurred.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that insulin has a direct effect on bone cells, which enhances the healing of fractures in intramembranous bone.
Yano
H
H
Faculty of Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Ohya
K
K
Amagasa
T
T
D000818:Animals; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D005333:Fetus; D017102:Fracture Healing / Q000187:drug effects*; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000187:drug effects / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
D007328:Insulin