Objective:
In the present study, transdermal nanoemulsion (NE)
gel of lovastatin was investigated for its anti-os
teoporosis effect on the long bones
of rat i.e. tibia.
Methods:
Male wistar rats (n=30, weighing 180-200g) were tak
en for this study and grouped as: 1) control (norma
l saline daily), 2) Dex
(dexamethasone sodium; 25 mg/kg subcutaneously twic
e a week), 3) Dex+LNG5 (lovastatin nanoemulsion gel
; 5 mg/kg/d transdermally daily), 4)
Dex+LNG10 (lovastatin nanoemulsion gel; 10 mg/kg/d
transdermally daily), and 5) Dex+ALN (alendronate s
odium; 0.03 mg/kg/d orally daily). All
the treatments were carried out for 60 d. At the en
d of the experiment, all animals were anesthetized
using diethyl ether and collected blood
samples from retro-orbital venous plexus of rats in
dry eppendorf tubes followed by the sacrifice of a
nimals by cervical dislocation method and
collected tibia bones of both the legs for analysis
.
Results:
Bone formation biomarkers (OC: osteocalcin, b-ALP:
bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, PINP: N-termina
l propeptides of type I procollagen)
were significantly improved and resorption biomarke
rs (CTx: C-terminal cross-linking telopeptides of t
ype-I collagen, TRAcP5b: isoform 5b of tartarate
resistant acid phosphatase) were significantly redu
ced in the LNG5 (p<0.05) and LNG10 (p<0.05) treatme
nt groups when compared to Dex.
In vivo
anti-
osteoporotic results demonstrated the formation of
new bone in osteoporotic rat tibias. Biomechanical
strength testing demonstrated increased load-
bearing capacity of rat tibias in the treated anima
ls in comparison with the osteoporotic group (p<0.0
5 for LNG5 and p<0.01 for LNG10).