Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society
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Comparative Study
Orthotopic ossification of the spinal ligaments of Zucker fatty rats: a possible animal model for ossification of the human posterior longitudinal ligament.
Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament is a human genetic disease in which pathological ectopic ossification of the spinal ligaments develops. This leads to myelopathy or radiculopathy due to compression of the spinal cord. In this study, we investigated the histological features of orthotopic ossification of the spinal ligaments of senile Zucker fatty rats. ⋯ In the controls, no expression of bone morphogenetic protein receptors or of activin receptors was observed. In conclusion, there is a great degree of similarity between orthotopic ossification of the spinal ligaments of Zucker fatty rats and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of humans. Thus, the rats provide a useful animal model for the study of ossification of the human posterior longitudinal ligament.
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The efficacy of a bone-graft substitute (bovine-derived bone protein in a carrier of natural coral) in the healing of a segmental defect of a weight-bearing long bone was evaluated. Twenty dogs, divided into two groups, underwent bilateral radial osteotomies with creation of a 2.5 cm defect. On one side of each dog, the defect was filled with autogenous cancellous bone graft. ⋯ In this model, bovine-derived bone protein in a natural coral carrier performed consistently better than the gold standard autogenous cancellous bone graft in terms of the amount of bone formation and strength of the healed defect. This may have implications for removal of hardware or resumption of weight-bearing in certain clinical situations. These data also indicate that coralline calcium carbonate alone represents a poor option as a bone-graft substitute in this critical-sized segmental defect model.