809094 Biomarker Identification in Fracture Healing (experiment #5200-5203 Jun 2015)

The specific genes that distinguish normal fracture healing from abnormal healing or nonunion in humans are unknown. This study was an exploratory investigation of peripheral blood from acutely injured fracture patients collected over multiple days to compare normal healers, slow healers, and nonunion outcomes. We used microarrays to do a global comparison between acutely injured (AI) subjects (AIS) vs. age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (HV) and chronic Nonunion (NU) patients. AIS and NU were enrolled into the study upon presentation for fracture care. Blood was collected into PaxGene blood RNA tubes during the inpatient stay and during clinical follow up. HV were enrolled in parallel with a one-time blood sample collection into PaxGene blood RNA tubes. RNA was extracted from all samples applicable to this experiment. We explored the data with Partek Genomics Suite using all samples at all time points to identify a panel of genes that is differentially expressed across groups to enable additional biomarker vetting.