title: The effects of vitamins E and C on fracture healing in rats.
abstract: Forty-eight rats were divided into four groups of 12. For 3 days, each group received the following vitamins in once-daily doses: group 1, vitamin E only; group 2, vitamin C only; group 3, vitamins E and C; and group 4, no treatment (control). The right tibia of each rat was fractured on day 4; the rats then received the same regimen three times a week (once-daily doses) until day 21. Fracture healing was evaluated radiologically by measuring the callus indices, and histologically by a 5-point grading scale. On days 14 and 21, the callus index values in group 2 were statistically higher than those in the other groups. Histological evaluation scores in group 2 were the highest overall, and group 3 scores were higher than those in groups 1 and 4. These findings indicate that vitamin C accelerates fracture healing, vitamin E does not exert a marked effect on this process, and vitamins E and C in combination do not have a synergistic impact on fracture healing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Uludağ University Medical School, Bursa, Turkey. bartu@uludag.edu.tr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarisözen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Durak
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dinçer
authors.forename: O F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Bilgen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017102:Fracture Healing / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid