title: Denervation impairs bone regeneration during distraction osteogenesis in rabbit tibia lengthening.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The nervous system plays an important role in bone metabolism. However, the effect of denervation on bone formation during distraction osteogenesis (DO) remains unclear. We studied neural influence on bone regeneration during DO in a rabbit model.
  
  
  METHODS
  24 New Zealand male white rabbits underwent left tibial osteodistraction. Before distraction, the animals were randomly divided into group R (resected left sciatic nerve) and group I (intact left sciatic nerve). 8 weeks after completion of distraction, the animals were killed and the lengthened tibias were harvested for radiography, micro-CT, histological evaluation, and mechanical testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  New regenerated bone was present in the distraction gaps of all animals at the end of the study, as revealed by radiography, micro-CT, and histology. However, less new bone formation and a lower degree of mineralization were observed in group R. The mechanical strength of the distraction gap in group I was 1.3-fold greater than that in group R when measured using the 3-point bending test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the nervous system plays an essential role during DO: the denervation appears to have an inhibitory effect on bone formation.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China College of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Xiaowen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Songsong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wenyang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khadka
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D003714:Denervation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction / Q000379:methods*; D011817:Rabbits; D011897:Random Allocation; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000601:surgery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013977:Tibia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000379:methods