An exploratory study of gold wire implantation at acupoints to accelerate ulnar fracture healing in rats

Abstract

By causing long-term stimulation, gold wire implantation at acupoints has been used empirically to prolong the effects of acupuncture. This study shows that subcutaneous gold wire implantation at acupoints has long-term effects on bone regeneration in the rat ulna bone defect model.

Fig. 1

Effect of gold wire implantation on bone regeneration in segmental ulnar bone defect. Bone defect width was obtained from radiographs of the right antebrachium, taken weekly through 8 weeks and bone regeneration in each rat was calculated as follows: bone regeneration (%) = (bone defect width at 2 weeks after surgery-bone defect width weekly)/(bone defect width at 2 weeks after surgery) × 100. Both groups showed gradual and consistent bone regeneration. From 4 weeks after gold implantation, the implanted rats showed significantly faster bone regeneration than the control rats, lasting up to 8 weeks after implantation. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 compared with control group

Fig. 2

Representative radiographs of forelimb at 2 weeks (a) and 8 weeks (b, c) after bone defect surgery. a A radiograph of forelimb of a control rat at 2 weeks post-operation. Radiographs of non-union cases in control (b) and gold-implanted (c) rats 8 weeks after segmental bone defect. gold-implanted rats had more bone regeneration than control rats at 2 weeks (a) or 8 weeks post-operation (b). (c) Arrow indicates gold implants

Fig. 3

Representative histological pictures of the fractured area in non-union rats 8 weeks after bone defect (a, b) and comparison of new bone formation (c). More extensive accumulation of new bone occurred on the fracture line (arrow) in the gold-implanted rat (b), compared with that of the control rat (a). c shows significant increases in extents of new bone formation in the gold-implantation group (n = 10) compared to the control group (n = 14). *P < 0.05