Silicon content of bone callus in experimental fractures

Summary

The paper deals with the amount of silicon in regenerating bone and in other parts of the skeleton at different periods during the healing of a fracture. Measurements were made by emission spectral analysis. Observations were made on a fracture of the radius. Histological and x-ray methods were used to relate the silicon content of the bony callus to the morphological changes involved in regeneration. The maximum amount of silicon present in the regenerating bone occurred in the early stages, when the amount was greater than normal; the increase coincided with maturation of the organic periosteal matrix consisting of collagen fibrils, and was accompanied by intense cellular proliferation in the periosteum. Similar variations of the silicon content occurred in the opposite limb and in remote skeletal regions, which indicates that silicon may migrate from other areas of bone into the fracture zone.