Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the effects of diet of Korean safflower(Carthamus tinctorious L.) seed powder on bone tissue during the recovery of rib-fracture in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats of 10 weeks old, weighing 370$\pm$5g, were divided into two groups including the control group(C group, AIN-76 semipurified diet) and safflower seed group(S group, AIN-76 semipurified diet+10% safflower seed powder) and were fed experimental diets for 12 days after adaptation period. After this period, the 9th right rib was fractured surgically and sham-operation was also performed. Rats were fed with experimental diets for up to 30 more days after rib-fracture. The degree of bone repair was evaluated during the recovery period at the 8th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 30th days after the surgical operation by microscopic observation of the fractured rib tissue. In callus formation, the portion of hyaline cartilage was noticably higher in S group than C group. The intracatilagenous ossification was observed at the 8th day in S group, but at 11th day in C group. The intramembranous ossification in callus was widely found over the 8th day to the 11th day in S group, but it was shown over the 11th day to the 16th day in C group. Bone resorption was also occured more rapidly in S group as indicated by large numbers of osteoclasts observed. At the 30th day, most of trabecular bones were disappeared in S group, whereas still shwon in C group over wide ranges of fractured ribs. These results imply that the supplementation of Korean safflower seed powder influences in the recovery of bone fracture by accelerating the process of bone repair.
