Abstract:

Objective

To investigate the effect of Simvastatin on bone metabolism in Osteoporosis rats.

Methods

Fifty four female SD Rats aged 3 months were divided into three groups by randomized block design. They were Sham-operated groups （SHAM）， ovariectomized group （OVX） and Simvastatin with ovariectomized rats group （OVX+SIM）. When osteoporosis model was established at 8 weeks，Simvastatin were administered orally 5 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 to OVX+SIM group and normal saline to the other two groups. The rats were sacrificed separately at 12th week and 20th week. Blood sample were collected to obtain serum levels of alkaline phosphatase （ALP）， Ca， P， bone specific alkaline phosphatase （BALP），and bone gla protein （BGP） at the time of killing.

Results

The level of BALP was significantly increased in the OVX+SIM group as compared with two other groups at 12 weeks （3.73±0.46， P＜0.01）. At 20 weeks，the level of BGP in the OVX+SIM group was significantly increased too （9.24±1.98， P＜0.01）. Compared with 12 weeks， the levels of BALP were significantly decreased at 20 weeks in all groups（2.33±0.77， 1.50±0.34， 2.22±0.28， P＜0.05， P＜0.01）， and the level of BGP of OVX group was significantly decreased too（4.02±0.72， P＜0.05）.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate that Simvastatin can affect bone metabolism and has a general beneficial effect on bone formation of Osteoporosis rats.

Key words: Simvastatin, Bone gla protein, Alkaline phosphatase, Bone metabolism, Osteoporosis