Oxytocin against osteoporosis
"Hormone of love" prevented osteoporosis
Maria Krivochenko, Naked Science
A group of scientists from the University of Sao Paulo State (UNESP) in Brazil has been investigating the effect of oxytocin on bone metabolism for ten years. One of the areas of their work is the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in women during perimenopause (before menopause and for a year after). At this time, hormonal fluctuations are quite sharp and are associated with a gradual decrease in bone density. As a result, bones become more fragile, the risk of fractures and the development of diseases increases. For the new study, the team selected ten female rats that are at the stage of periestropause (an analogue of perimenopause in women), and injected them with oxytocin twice with an interval of 12 hours. 35 days after the injections, the scientists analyzed samples of their blood and femoral neck tissue and compared them with samples taken from rodents of the same age who had not injected the drug. The results of the study are published in the journal Scientific Reports (Fernandes et al., Oxytocin and bone quality in the female neck of rats in periestropause). Unlike the control group, the hormone-treated animals showed no signs of osteopenia (loss of bone density and mass). Analysis of blood samples showed high activity of enzymes, for example, alkaline phosphatase, responsible for maintaining bone density and strength, and a decrease in the activity of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, a marker of bone resorption (destruction).
A drawing from an article in Scientific Reports.
The scientists also noted that the bones of the rats injected were denser. In particular, the femoral neck was stronger and not as porous as in the control group. "The biomechanical response of tissues to compression was better," added Rita Menegati Dornelles, an employee of the Arasatub Dental School and one of the authors of the study.
The team decided to study the femoral neck tissue because the neck is a common fracture site. Its consequences are extremely serious: after it, a person remains motionless for a long time, which causes congestive pneumonia and deep vein thrombosis to develop. Almost 80 percent of patients have difficulty moving in the future, and 20 percent do not experience trauma at all. People suffering from osteoporosis can get it even with a slight injury.
The published work, the authors said, was a step towards the prevention and treatment of the disease. In the future, they plan to find out how oxytocin affects the metabolism of bone tissue in the human body. But this will require a lot of research on the effectiveness and safety of the open method, as well as the search for dosage. Only then will it be possible to proceed to clinical trials and production of the drug.
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