Effects of concurrent use of royal jelly with hydroxyapatite on bone healing in rabbit model: radiological and histopathological evaluation

BACKGROUND: Bone grafts have been used to enhance bone fracture healing in orthopedic surgery. Bone grafts enhance bone healing either by mechanical support or acting as a scaffold for bone formation. Fresh autograft is the most effective biomaterial because it is histocompatible with less complication about transmissible disease. Hydroxyapatite is a well-established material for bone repair and very comparable to natural apatite providing a strong biomechanical interlock with host tissue. Royal jelly is the principal food for the honeybee queen. This biomaterial has been demonstrated to have several pharmacological activities, such as antiallergic, antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects. OBJECTIVES: This study was design to evaluate the effect of concurrent using of Royal jelly with hydroxyapatite on bone healing in rabbit model. METHODS: 15 adult rabbits weighting approximately 2 kg had been used. They were divided into three groups randomly. In first group (N = 5) mid radius bone defect created and left empty. The second group (N = 5) filled with hydroxy apatite alone and the last group (N = 5) filled with royal jelly and hydroxy apatite combination. Radiological evaluation performed on days14th, 28th and 42nd after operation. Histopathological evaluation was done on 56(th) postoperative day. RESULTS: Radiological evaluation showed significant superior bone healing in hydroxyapatite and hydroxyapatite-Royal jelly groups in comparison to control group. Control group was the inferior group between three groups. There were not any significant differences between three groups in histopathological group. CONCLUSION: In conclusion our study showed the best results with using the hydroxyl apatite and Royal-jelly group because they provide not only scaffold for bone healing but also do, they provide some osteoinduction materials for bone healing.