Alcohol Consumption Effects During the Inflammatory Stage of Fracture Healing in Rat Bones

Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on an ethanol-containing or pair-fed Lieber and DeCarli diets for 4 wks prior to surgical fracture. Following insertion of a medullary pin, a closed mid-diaphyseal fracture was induced using a Bonnarens and Einhorn fracture device. At 3 days post-fracture, the region of the fracture calluses were harvested from the right hind-limb. RNA was extracted and microarray analysis was conducted against the entire rat genome to study the effects of alcohol-consumption on the fracture healing.