Inhibition of secondary cartilage of the intermaxillary suture in Sprague-Dawley rats following the enucleation of maxillary molars

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · J. Craniofacial Genet. Dev. Biol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5489047

Forbes, D P; Al-Bareedi, S

A single craniofacial suture can undergo several morphologic transformations during its development. From 3 to 7 weeks of age, the intermaxillary suture of the rat is synchondrotic in character, featuring secondary cartilage; at later times, this suture is syndesmotic in character, featuring a fibrous tissue interface. Since intermittent mechanical stimulation has been reported to initiate secondary cartilage formation, a study was done to determine if the functioning dentition were responsible for secondary cartilage formation in the intermaxillary suture of the rat. Twenty-two female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. At 3 weeks of age, prior to eruption, the maxillary molars were enucleated from nine animals. Body weights were recorded weekly. Animals were sacrificed weekly from 4 to 7 weeks of age. One hour prior to sacrifice, each rat was injected with (/sup 35/S)sulfate at a dosage of 2 microCi/g body weight. The tissues were evaluated by light microscopy and autoradiography. In the experimental group, the midpalatal suture did not undergo the normal synchondrotic transformation. Instead, this suture remained fibrous with negligible metachromatic staining. In the control animals, the peak period of (/sup 35/S)sulfate incorporation was 4 weeks of age and was five times greater than in the experimental group. The primary stimulus for the initiation of secondary cartilage formation in the midpalatal suture of the rat was molar function. Also, functioning molars were found to be important in the maintenance of the palatal bone.

• Research Organization: Northwestern Univ. Dental School, Chicago, IL
• OSTI ID: 5489047
• Journal Information: J. Craniofacial Genet. Dev. Biol.; (United States), Vol. 1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
CARTILAGE
INHIBITION
SKELETON
MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES
AGE DEPENDENCE
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
FACE
RATS
SULFATES
SULFUR 35
TEETH
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
BODY AREAS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAD
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAMMALS
NUCLEI
ORAL CAVITY
ORGANS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
RODENTS
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR ISOTOPES
TISSUES
VERTEBRATES
550801* - Morphology- Tracer Techniques