Cui Meng,Niu Yinbo,Liu Guangxing,Wang Tingmei,Huang Yong,Mei Qibing.Protective effects of lithium chloride on bone loss in hindlimb unloading rats[J].J Amry Med Univ (J Third Mil Med Univ),2010,32(14):1512-1515.
Cui Meng,Niu Yinbo,Liu Guangxing,Wang Tingmei,Huang Yong,Mei Qibing.Protective effects of lithium chloride on bone loss in hindlimb unloading rats[J].J Amry Med Univ (J Third Mil Med Univ),2010,32(14):1512-1515.DOI:
Protective effects of lithium chloride on bone loss in hindlimb unloading rats
Objective To investigate the effect of lithium chloride (LiCl)
a special inhibitor of GSK-3 in Wnt signal pathway
on the bone loss of hindlimb unloading rats. Methods Eighteen male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group
hindlimb unloading (HU) group
and HU+LiCl group. The HU+LiCl group were intragastric administrated with LiCl [20 mg/(kg·d)]. Bone density (BMD) of the rats’ left femurs on the 1st and 15th days was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). On day 15
all rats were sacrificed to remove the proximal part of the left femur for HE staining. Then the morphological changes were observed
and bone histomorphometry including percent trabecular area (Tb.Ar%)
trabecular number (Tb.N)
and trabecular thick (Tb.Th) was carried out. Rats’ right femurs were resected to measure the bone biomechanical indexes in threepoint bending experiments. The expression of β-catenin protein of bone was tested by Western blotting. Results BMD of the HU group and HU+LiCl group were lower than that of the control group (P0.05)
while that of the HU group were significantly lower than the HU+LiCl group (P0.01). Tb.Th of HU group was lower than that of control group (P0.05)
while the Tb.Ar% and Tb.N of HU group were significantly lower than those of control group (P0.01)
but these 3 indexes of the HU+LiCl group were higher than HU group (P0.05). The elastic modulus of HU group were lower than control group (P0.05)
and the stiffness coefficient of HU group were significantly lower than control group (P0.01)
while the elastic modulus of HU+LiCl group were higher than those of HU group (P0.05) and the stiffness coefficient of HU+LiCl group were significantly higher than HU group (P0.01). Western blotting showed that the expression of β-catenin of HU group was lower than control group
while HU+LiCl group was higher than HU group. Conclusion Hindlimb unloading can cause bone loss in rats with disuse. LiCl may be used to prevent rats’ osteoporosis caused by hindlimb unloading.