Abstract
Korean safflower seed has been known to have healing effects on both bone fracture and osteoporosis. On the base of such a notice, this experiment was carried out to explore the effects of safflower seed on bone formation and bone repair. The toxicity test and the effect of Korean safflower seed were evaluated with 60 rats, 3-month old. Forty Sprague-Dawley rats composed of 20 male and 20 female were underwent unilateral tibial defect and then fastened with unilateral fixators. The operated rats were divided into two groups depending on the composition of diet, such as positive control group fed normal diet(C-OP group) and safflower seed group fed 30% of safflower seed diet and 70% of normal diet(S-OP group). Another 20 rats without operation were maintained, each 10 rats were fed either normal diet or 30% of safflower seed diet and 70% of normal diet, and observed the toxicity of safflower seed by measuring weight and urine parameters. Postoperative radiography were taken once in 2 weeks to evaluate callus formation for operated groups and blood collection via heart puncture were carried out once in 3 weeks for 3 groups. The concentration of Ca and Pi in serum were measured using both auto Kit and $^{31}$ P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR). At present study, no toxic effect was observed from both weight increment and urine index after feeding the safflower seed diet. The comparison of the radiography between C-OP and S-OP group were showed that the safflower seed diet appeared to stimulate the formation of callus in the rat. The ratio of Ca/P in serum was low in S-OP group compared to C-OP group with the auto Kit, but there were no significant differences between two groups (p < 0.05). In addition, the variations of Pi values in NMR examination were also confirmed based on the result of auto Kit. In conclusion, this study implied that safflower seed might influence to bone formation and shorten the periods of remedy by stimulating the calcification of bone