1997 Volume 43 Issue 2 Pages 79-85
Attention has focused on fetal tissues in recent years as cellular grafting material for patients with parkinsonism, diabetes, and other diseases, whereas no study has reported the use of fetal bone tissue for bone grafting. I noted that fetal bone has low antigenicity and has growth potential. Thus, I performed two-step grafting of fetal bone. In the present study, I carried out experimental primary grafting with fetal tibia as the first stage of this study design and evaluated the possibility of using fetal bone as bone grafting material. As donor, fetuses were removed by cesarean section from Lewis rats on the 17th day of pregnancy. Disarticulation was performed under an operating microscope, and the tibia was collected. Fischer and Brown-Norway rats were used as recipients, and the tibia was grafted to the back. The graft was collected at the 1st, 2nd, 3 rd, and 4 th weeks after grafting, and the longer axis was measured. Further more, histopathlogical and radiological examinations were performed. Growth of the graft bone over time was macroscopically, histologically, and radiologically confirmed at the subcutaneous site of primary grafting. The longer axis was 2.36±0.13 mm when the tibia was collected from the fetus. After grafting, it increased with time to 12.40±2.50 mm at the 4 th week, equivalent to an increase of 5.25 times. In both recipient rats, the longer axis increased, and there was no difference between two types of rats. I conclude that fetal bone has low immunogenicity and is useful as allogenic bone grafting material in the early stage of primary grafting.
