Single local injection of recombinant fibroblast growth factor-2 stimulates healing of segmental bone defects in rabbits

✍ Scribed by Takashi Kato; Hiroshi Kawaguchi; Keigo Hanada; Ikuo Aoyama; Yoshiyuki Hiyama; Toshiyuki Nakamura; Kazuya Kuzutani; Makoto Tamura; Takahide Kurokawa; Kozo Nakamura

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 918 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0736-0266
• DOI: 10.1002/jor.1100160605

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The effects of a single local injection of recombinant human fibroblast growth factor‐2 on the healing of segmental bone defects were evaluated in rabbits. One month after the external fixator originally designed for this experiment was installed in the tibia of the rabbit, a 3‐mm bone defect was created by an osteotomy in the middle of the tibia and 0, 50, 100, 200, or 400 μg of fibroblast growth factor‐2 in 100 μg of saline solution was injected into the defect. Injection of the growth factor increased the volume and mineral content of newly made bone at the defect in a dose‐dependent manner with significant effects at Concentrations of 100 μg or greater. These significant effects were observed at 5 weeks and later. One hundred micro‐grams of the growth factor increased the volume and mineral content of newly made bone by 95 and 36%, respectively, at 5 weeks. These results indicate that a single local injection of fibroblast growth factor‐2 stimulates the healing of segmental defects. We speculate that such an injection could be clinically useful for the healing of fractures even when the fracture gap is rather large.