Changes in skin during distraction osteogenesis of the tibia in Sprague-Dawley rats: verification of epidermal proliferation by immunohistochemical methods.
To investigate the effect of bone lengthening by distraction osteogenesis, a pair of external fixators was placed in the right tibias of 40 Sprague-Dawley rats. Two weeks (n=10) and 12 months (n=10) after 25% lengthening, skin flaps were removed and prepared for the immunohistochemical measurement of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and staining with haematoxylin and eosin. The same procedures were done for the rest of 20 unlengthened tibias. At 2 weeks the number of cells labelled with BrdU, which indicate the extent of DNA synthesis, was 4.35 times (p<0.001) greater in the lengthened than the unlengthened skin. However, at 12 months, there was no difference. Haematoxylin and eosin staining showed no additional findings. Although the physical properties of the skin can accommodate a lengthened bone, our results suggest that distraction osteogenesis stimulates epidermal proliferation, which might lead to an increase in the amount of skin.
Chang
Hak
H
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Research Institute of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Jongno-gu, Korea.
Kwon
Sung Tack
ST
Chung
Chin Youb
CY
Choi
In Ho
IH
Ahn
Heu Tae
HT
Cho
Kwang Hyun
KH
D000818:Animals; D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000378:metabolism; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016267:External Fixators; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D023421:Models, Animal; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013977:Tibia / Q000601:surgery
D000963:Antimetabolites; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine