Electromagnetic fields can affect osteogenesis by increasing the rate of differentiation.
Electromagnetic fields of various kinds can alter osteogenesis in animals with osteotomies and patients with nonunions, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are unknown. The aims of this study were to determine whether I gauss at 60 Hz affected periosteal proliferation and differentiation in either the normal rat tibia or 1 to 14 days after a surgically induced defect. In the injured rats, using histologic study, autoradiography, and morphometry, it was found that exposure for 1 or 3 days had no effect on proliferation but that it produced an increase in osteoblasts 3 days after the injury. Proliferation and differentiation were unaffected by exposure in the absence of injury. The results suggest that the primary effect of the fields was to promote differentiation but not proliferation. Because fields can stimulate proliferation of osteoblastlike cells in vitro, the results of this study may indicate the presence of an in vivo factor that antagonizes the tendency of fields to increase mitotic activity.
Landry
P S
PS
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130-3932, USA.
Sadasivan
K K
KK
Marino
A A
AA
Albright
J A
JA
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D002146:Bony Callus / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D008297:Male; D008938:Mitosis; D010006:Osteoblasts; D010012:Osteogenesis; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344