RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To understand bone regeneration process after tooth extraction could be a clue to develop a new strategy for alveolar bone reconstruction. Recently, accumulated evidences support that connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is implicated in tissue repair of many tissues. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal expression of CTGF in the rat tooth extraction sockets. DESIGN: Five weeks old wild type male rats (weighing 120 g) were used for this experiment. Expression of CTGF was determined by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization in the rat upper molar tooth extraction sockets at 2, 4, 7, 10 and 14 days after tooth extraction. RESULTS: CTGF was expressed strongly in the endothelial cells migrating into the granulation tissue at the bottom of the sockets during 4 days after tooth extraction. During the reparative process, no apparent chondrocyte-like cell appeared in the sockets, while osteoblast-like cells proliferated in the sockets with low CTGF expression at 7, 10, 14 days after extraction. As expected, no staining was observed with the preimmune rabbit IgG and CTGF sense probe. CTGF may play an important role in angiogenesis and granulation tissue formation specifically at early healing stage after tooth extraction to initiate alveolar bone repair. CONCLUSION: CTGF was expressed at early healing stage of the rat tooth extraction wound.