Use and preservation methods of bone grafts in small animals

The present review describes the main characteristics of bone grafts used in small animals. Bone grafts are tissues without vasculature, which facilitate the production of new bone cells with osteogenic and osteoinductive factors that lead to the differentiation of cells and structural support for bone marrow. The transplant of a graft is followed by three stages: osteogenesis, or the formation of new bone; osteoinduction, which is the differentiation of cells; and osteoconduction, the process of growth of mesenchymal cells and capillaries that results in new bone formation. The composition of bone grafts may include spongy bone, cortical bone, cortical-spongy bone, cartilage or bone marrow. Grafts can also be classified according to their origin, being autogenous tissue when they are transplanted from the same individual, allogenous (homologous) when originating from another individual of the same species, and xenogenous when obtained from a different species

Núcleos de Ensino da Unesp: artigos 2008

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved