Effect of Local Application of Alendronate and Parathyroid Hormone on Craniofacial Bone Repair - a Preliminary Study.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two methods of local application of alendronate and parathyroid hormone (PTH) on bone repair and the systemic implications. A critically sized defect (5 mm) was created in the cranial region of twenty-five male Wistar rats, and the bone removed was particulated, and grafted back to the defect with different treatments. The animals were randomly divided into five groups: A1- bone graft immersion in alendronate solution (3 mg/kg) for 5 minutes; P1- bone graft immersion in PTH solution (20 µg); A2- weekly local applications of alendronate 1 mg/kg; P2- weekly local applications of PTH (20 µg); C- no drugs were used. The animals were euthanized 60 days after surgery. Cranial bone blocks were removed for histological, histomorphometric, and immunohistochemical analyses. MMP-2 and MMP-9 were used for immunolabeling. The kidneys, liver, and brain were also removed from all the rats for histological analysis. The data were submitted for statistical analysis with a level of significance of 0.05 (One-way ANOVA). The group C and group P2 presented a higher quantity of viable bone particles than the remaining groups. Groups A1, A2, and P1 presented with fewer viable bone particles than the control group, with a predominance of non-mineralized connective tissue. The histomorphometric analysis revealed no differences in relative bone area or MMP-2 or MMP-9 immunolabeling between the groups (p>0.05). Group A2 showed presence of fat in the liver consistent with hepatic steatosis. Changes in brain tissue were observed in groups A1 and P1.