Key words: traumatic brain injury, fracture healing, substance P, CatWalk-gait analysis, micro-vesicles, neutrophils

"The role of neurohumoral modulation in fracture healing - lifting a tip of the veil"

The process of fracture healing is an extremely complex process in which an immense amount of biological factors from the musculoskeletal-, neurological-, vascular- and immune-system interact with each other. In this thesis, we aimed to evaluate the influence of some of these factors on the fracture healing process.

The most important questions of this thesis are:

1. Does concomitant traumatic brain injury enhance the fracture healing process?
2. How does the blockage of the neurotransmitter substance P influence fracture healing?
3. Is the CatWalk gait analysis system suitable for gait analyses in small animal fracture models?
4. Does the arginine-nitric oxide metabolism in spongious bone grafts influence the outcome of non-union treatment?
5. What is the impact of plasma-derived micro-vesicles on the viability and proliferation of osteoblasts in a small animal fracture model?
6. Are there changes in prevalence, activity, and functionality of circulatory and pulmonary neutrophils after an intramedullary stabilized femoral fracture in a small animal fracture model?

Click here for the full dissertation.