Fracture-healing slows with age. While six-week-old rats regain normal bone biomechanics at four weeks after a fracture, one-year-old rats require more than twenty-six weeks. The objective of this study was to examine the possible role of altered mRNA gene expression in this delayed union.
Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina 28232, USA. rmeyer@carolinas.org