Ibandronate For Prevention And Treatment Of Glucocorticiod-induced Osteoporosis In Rabbits

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of ibandronate(IBA) in prevention and treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in rabbits.Methods: 60 New Zealand white rabbits randomly allocated into six groups: control-1 group, control-2 group(saline), DX6 group(dexamethasone for 6 weeks), prevention group(injected with IBA at a dose of 2mg/kg before dexamethasone treatment), DX12 group(treated with dexamethasone for 12 weeks) and treatment group(additionally received IBA injection after dexamethasone treatment for 6 weeks). The rabbits from control-1 group, DX6 group and prevention group were sacrificed at week 6 and the remaining rabbits in other groups were sacrificed at week 12 for bone biomechanical analysis and histological examination.Results: Compared with DX6 group, trabecular number(Tb.N), trabecular thickness(Tb.Th) and bone volume/tissue volume(BV/TV)of lumbar spine in the prevention group were increased by 45.74%, 40.55% and 99.38%, respectively(P<0.01). And the parameters in the treatment group were increased by 39.16%, 23.87% and 72.90% respectively(P<0.05), comparing with DX12 group. The maximum bending stress and the maximum torque and the maximum compressive load of prevention group were higher than DX6 group by 30.23%, 36.42% and 24.56% respectively(P<0.01). And the biomechanical parameters of treatment group were higher than DX12 group by 22.57%, 105.50% and 54.24% respectively(P<0.05).Conclusion: IBA could effectively prevent and treat glucocorticoid induced loss of bone mass and strength in rabbits.