Effects of capsaicin-induced sensory denervation on early implant osseointegration in adult rats

The presence of nerve endings around the implant, but the interaction between the peripheral nervous system and the implant osseointegration is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of selective sensory denervation on early implant osseointegration. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into group A and group B, and they were treated with capsaicin and normal saline, respectively. One week later, titanium implants were placed in the bilateral femur of rats. Three and six weeks after the implantation, histological examination, micro-computed tomography and biomechanical testing were performed to observe the effect of sensory denervation on implant osseointegration. At three weeks and six weeks, bone area, trabecular bone volume/ total bone volume and bone density in group A were significantly lower than group B. Similarly, bone-implant contact rate, trabecular number and trabecular thickness in group A were obviously lower than group B at three w...