FIG. 4.

Teriparatide treatment enhances osteointegration of PLA and PLA/β-TCP scaffolds by increasing callus volume, trabecular bone formation, and bridging. Representative micro-CT segmentation of the mineralized callus in femurs reconstructed with PLA scaffolds (A, C) or (B, D) at 9 weeks postsurgery. Control animals were untreated (A, B), whereas treated animals received daily teriparatide injections (C, D). Note that 30% of the teriparatide-treated animals developed a mineralized callus that bridged the defect for both scaffolds resulting in union. In contrast, none of the scaffolds in the nontreated controls developed a bridging union. Lower panels show the corresponding micro-CT slices of each specimen at the proximal end (1), midline (2), and distal end (3) of the callus. Arrows indicate the dense and trabecular nature of the mineralized callus in the teriparatide-treated groups (C, D) compared to the mostly cortical shell in the controls (A, B). Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ten.