Pravastatin reduces steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in SHRSP rats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3109/17453674.2011.641103Abstract
Background and purpose Although the definite cause of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is unknown, peripheral circulatory failure, lipid metabolism disturbance, and increased oxidative stress are considered to be possible causes. We investigated whether pravastatin as a statin treatment reduces (1) the incidence of ONFH, (2) the adipocyte area, and (3) bone marrow changes in the femoral head.Methods We divided up 81 thirteen-week-old spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone (SHRSP)/Izm male rats into 4 groups: a control group (group C), a group given pravastatin (group P), a group given steroid (group S), and a group given both pravastatin and steroid (Group PS). The steroid was administered at 15 weeks of age. Pravastatin, as a statin, was administered in the drinking water for 4 weeks. The rats were killed when 17 weeks old. Osteonecrosis was diagnosed based on histopathological examination. Oxidative stress was assessed from immunostaining.Results The incidence of histological osteonecrosis was lower in the groups given pravastatin. The percentage of adipocyte area in the bone marrow was lower in the PS group than in the S group. Immunohistochemical staining for oxidative stress showed that staining was less in the PS group than in the S group. Pravastatin had no effect on the blood-derived biochemical findings on lipid metabolism. However, it reduced the incidence of steroid-induced ONFH in these SHRSP rats. We presume that this occurred by reducing oxidative stress and by reducing the percentage of adipocyte area in the femoral heads.Interpretation Our data suggest that pravastatin may be effective in reducing steroid-induced ONFH.Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Downloads
Published
2012-02-01
How to Cite
Nozaki, Y., Kumagai, K., Miyata, N., & Niwa, M. (2012). Pravastatin reduces steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in SHRSP rats. Acta Orthopaedica, 83(1), 87–92. https://doi.org/10.3109/17453674.2011.641103
Issue
Section
Articles
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Acta Orthopaedica (Scandinavica) content is available freely online as from volume 1, 1930. The journal owner owns the copyright for all material published until volume 80, 2009. As of June 2009, the journal has however been published fully Open Access, meaning the authors retain copyright to their work. As of June 2009, articles have been published under CC-BY-NC or CC-BY licenses, unless otherwise specified.