2001 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 35-45
To assess the disease-state of purulent osteomyelitis, 102immature Japanese white rabbits were used to prepare experimental osteomyelitis models. While osteomyelitis was experimentally induced, body weight was measured, X-rays taken and blood tests conducted. Blood tests were performed to ascertain changes in the levels of serum prostaglandin (PGE2) and serum anti-Staphylococcus aureus IgG antibody titer. Based on the results, rabbits were classified into four groups: osteomyelitis was not experimentally induced (control group), osteomyelitis did not occur (no onset group), osteomyelitis improved naturally (improved group), and osteomyelitis was exacerbated (exacerbated group). For the control and no onset groups, the level of serum IgG antibody titer did not increaseat week 16, remaining essentially constant between 0.36 and 0.56. For the improved group, it increased to 0.62 at week 8, and then decreased gradually after that. For the exacerbated group, the level of serum IgG antibody titer started to increase rapidly at week 4 and it remained high at 0.72 at week 8 and beyond. There were significant differences in the level of serum IgG antibody titer between the exacerbated and other groups. For the control and no onset groups, the level of serum PGE2 fluctuated within 10 and 2 pg/dl and did not change markedly. For the improved group, the level of serum PGE2 was about 240-860 pg/dl between weeks 4 and 6, whereas that for the exacerbated group was increased at about 5,500 pg/dl at week 4. These findings suggest that changes in the levels of serum IgG antibody titer and serum PGE2 are important markers of the disease-state of experimental osteomyelitis.
