The Evaluation of Epiphyseal Plate Histological Changes in Osteopetrotic op/op Mice.

This study was designed for evaluation of epiphyseal plate histological changes of femur bones in osteopetrotic op/op mice.In this study 5 osteopetrotic op/op mice which were purchased from the commercial source were used.The animals were killed by overdose of chloroform and their femur bones were extracted. The bones were fixed in 10% formaldehyde and decalcified by HCl (0.6N), and routine histological processing were performed. The sections were stained by H&E methods and studied by conventional light microscopy. The results showed that, proliferative zone (PZ) and especially hypertrophic zone (HZ) were much thickened. In the ossification zone, trabecular bones were irregular and atypical osteoblast cells were observed. The osteoclast cells were not attached to trabecular bones. The bone marrow cavity was restricted and bone marrow cells were poor and scattered. Findings of the present investigation are similar to those reported about epiphyseal plate in osteosclerotic (OC) mice in which epiphyseal plate especially hypertrophic zone was thickened and chondrocytes were not substituted for osteoblasts in calcified cartilage area. Also, osteoclast cells had been inactive or absent in OC mice. For prevention of other complication due to the epiphyseal plate changes in new borne, suitable and punctually treatment protocols such as prescription of Macrophage Colony Stimulating-Factor (MCS-F) could be useful.