Beneficial Therapeutic Effects of Sildenafil on Bone Healing in Animals Treated with Bisphosphonate

• Published in: Nigerian journal of clinical practice Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 217 - 224
• Main Authors: Bereket, C, Sener, I, Cakir-Özkan, N, Önger, M, Polat, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01-02-2018; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Biopsy; Bone density; Bone Density Conservation Agents - administration & dosage; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Diphosphonates; Diphosphonates - administration & dosage; Disease Models, Animal; Dosage and administration; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Fracture Healing - drug effects; Fracture repair; Health aspects; Imidazoles - administration & dosage; Mandibular Fractures - diagnosis; Mandibular Fractures - drug therapy; Metabolic bone diseases; Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Prevention; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Sildenafil; Sildenafil Citrate - therapeutic use; Zoledronic Acid; bisphosphonate; osteonecrosis; sildenafil; zoledronic acid; fracture healing; bone healing
• ISSN: 1119-3077
• DOI: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_172_16

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of sildenafil on mandibular fracture healing in animals treated with zoledronic acid by using histologic, histomorphometric, immunohistochemical, and radiodensitometric methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley rats (3 months old) were used. All animals were treated intraperitoneally with 0.1 mg/kg zoledronate three times per week, for a total of 8 weeks. Postoperatively, the animals were divided into two groups: zoledronate group (Z), which had no treatment applied (n = 18), and zoledronate + sildenafil (ZS), which were treated daily with 10 mg/kg sildenafil (n = 18). Each group was divided into two subgroups and the animals were sacrificed at the end of week 1 (Z1 and ZS1, n = 9) and week 4 (Z4 and ZS4, n = 9) after the operation. Histologic, histomorphometric, immunohistochemical analysis, and radiodensitometry were performed on the test subjects. Results: Sildenafil-treated groups showed a significant increase in fracture healing scores. This result was supported by the densitometric, histologic, histomorphometric, and immunohistochemical findings. Conclusions: Sildenafil may have positive effects on accelerating and improving fracture healing, and it may be used as a supporting factor in bone healing in patients treated with bisphosphonate (BP) to prevent negative effects of BP's