title: Impaired bone healing in rabbits with steroid-induced osteonecrosis.
abstract: Corticosteroids are prescribed for the treatment of many medical conditions and their adverse effects on bone, including steroid-associated osteoporosis and osteonecrosis, are well documented. Core decompression is performed to treat osteonecrosis, but the results are variable. As steroids may affect bone turnover, this study was designed to investigate bone healing within a bone tunnel after core decompression in an experimental model of steroid-associated osteonecrosis. A total of five 28-week-old New Zealand rabbits were used to establish a model of steroid-induced osteonecrosis and another five rabbits served as controls. Two weeks after the induction of osteonecrosis, core decompression was performed by creating a bone tunnel 3 mm in diameter in both distal femora of each rabbit in both the experimental osteonecrosis and control groups. An in vivo micro-CT scanner was used to monitor healing within the bone tunnel at four, eight and 12 weeks postoperatively. At week 12, the animals were killed for histological and biomechanical analysis. In the osteonecrosis group all measurements of bone healing and maturation were lower compared with the control group. Impaired osteogenesis and remodelling within the bone tunnel was demonstrated in the steroid-induced osteonecrosis, accompanied by inferior mechanical properties of the bone. We have confirmed impaired bone healing in a model of bone defects in rabbits with pulsed administration of corticosteroids. This finding may be important in the development of strategies for treatment to improve the prognosis of fracture healing or the repair of bone defects in patients receiving steroid treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory, 5/F, Clinical Science Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: X H
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: X L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: V W Y
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D010020:Osteonecrosis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D013256:Steroids / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D013256:Steroids