A comparison of stromal cell-derived factor-1 expression during distraction osteogenesis and bone fracture in the mandible

• Published in: The Journal of craniofacial surgery Vol. 24; no. 3; p. 805
• Main Authors: Cao, Jian, Wang, Lei, Du, Zhao-jie, Liu, Peng, Zhang, Ya-bo, Sui, Jian-fu, Liu, Yan-pu, Lei, De-lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Bone Regeneration - physiology; Chemokine CXCL12 - metabolism; Disease Models, Animal; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Fracture Healing - physiology; Male; Mandibular Fractures - metabolism; Mandibular Fractures - surgery; Osteoblasts - metabolism; Osteogenesis, Distraction - methods; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 1536-3732
• DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0b013e31828f1ca7

Distraction osteogenesis (DO) has been a widely applied technique in orthopedics and craniofacial surgery. However, the exact molecular mechanism by which the mechanical stimulus is translated into biological signals is still poorly understood. In this study, we examined and compared the expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) during mandibular distraction osteogenesis and fracture in rats, respectively. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 2 groups and received unilateral distraction osteogenesis and rigid internal fixation, respectively, after the osteotomy on the right mandible. The harvested mandibles were examined radiographically, histologically, and immunohistochemically. We found that the expression of SDF-1 was mainly detected in the osteoblasts and blood vessels, and there were more intensive expression of SDF-1 in DO zones than in bone fracture zones. The quantitative analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that SDF-1 reached a greater peak and maintained a longer period of up-regulation in DO than in fracture healing (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the distraction procedure markedly promotes the high expression of SDF-1 which facilitates the induction of bone formation during DO.