Expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen during distraction osteogenesis in the mandible in rabbits

We examined the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) during distraction osteogenesis in the mandible in rabbits. Twenty-four rabbits each had an osteotomy of the left mandibular body, and distraction devices were fixed. The bone was distracted at a rate of 1 mm/day for 10 days. Four rabbits were killed at each of 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after completion of distraction, and the mandibles examined radiographically, histologically, and immunohistochemically. Four rabbits that had not been operated on served as controls. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that BMP-2 and PCNA both appeared initially at the edge of the osteogenesis, but tended to disappear after 14 days. After 1, 3, 7, and 14 days after distraction, the ratio of stained cells was significantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.05), during the period that active bone formation was shown radiographically and histologically. These results suggest that BMP-2 plays an important part in the induction of bone formation during distraction osteogenesis.