The effect of glass-ceramic implants on matrix vesicle calcification after two weeks of rat tibial bone healing

Type, size and distribution of extracellular matrix vesicles (MV), known mediators of primary calcification, were studied around bone-bonding and metal-oxide containing, nonbonding, glass-ceramic implants. This was performed in order to further understand the different effects of implants on bone healing. At 14 days after implantation in adult rat tibial bone the effects of different implants on MV were studied by transmission electron microscopy and computerized morphometry. A total number of 4607 MV in 245 electron micrographs were counted and grouped according to diameter, distance from the calcifying front, and classified as four types: "empty," "amorphous," "crystal," and "rupture." The sequence of types according to diameter and distance was recorded as follows around both implants tested: "rupture" MV were the closest to the front with the largest diameter, followed by "crystal," "amorphous," and "empty," MV with the largest distance from the front and the smallest diameter. Most vesicles were concentrated in a distance of less than 2.4 microns from the front and between diameters of 0.06 microns and 0.22 microns. The noncalcified extracellular matrix around bone-bonding implants contained more MV than the matrix around the nonbonding type (26.24 MV/10 microns2 and 18.76 MV/10 microns2). MV distribution according to types showed that around bonding implants there was a higher percentage of "crystal" and a lower percentage of "rupture" when compared to the nonbonding type. These results indicate that bonding implants affect osteoblastic function by increasing the vesicular number and retardation of intravesicular crystal formation. It might be suggested that bonding implants induce an increase in the process of primary calcification and a decreased rate of crystal formation resulting with the highest organization of the healing bone.