• Huiping Song, Yang Luo, Wenya Wang, Shuyang Li, Kai Yang, Muwei Dai, Yong Shen, Yingze Zhang, and Liu Zhang.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology, 73 Jianshe Rd, Tangshan 063000, China.
• Spine J. 2017 Jul 1; 17 (7): 995-1003.

Background ContextOsteoporosis adversely affects disc degeneration cascades, and prophylactic alendronate (ALN) helps delay intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. However, there remains no information regarding whether ALN affects IDD with bone loss.PurposeThis study aimed to observe the effects of ALN on degenerative discs with bone loss induced by OVX in rats.Study DesignThis study used controlled in vivo experiments in rodents.MethodsThirty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to undergo sham surgery (n=10) or OVX surgery (n=20); 3 months later, the OVX animals were injected with either ALN (OVX+ALN, 15 µg/kg/2w, n=10) or normal saline (OVX+vehicle treatment [V], n=10). At 3 months after the ALN intervention, van Gieson staining and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate histologic and metabolic changes in the discs. Bone mineral density (BMD), micro-computed tomography, and biomechanical tests were conducted to determine the biological properties of the vertebrae.ResultsThe OVX+ALN group exhibited significantly reduced morphologic degenerative alterations in both the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus, with a markedly lower IDD score than that of the OVX+V group. The OVX+ALN samples showed increased disc height and decreased cartilage end plate thickness and bony area compared with the OVX+V group. Compared with saline, ALN administration markedly inhibited the type I collagen, matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-1, and MMP-13 expression levels while increasing the type II collagen and aggrecan expression levels in the disc matrix. Compared with the OVX+V group, OVX+ALN vertebrae revealed significantly enhanced BMD with increased biomechanical strength, as well as increased percent bone volume and trabecular thickness.ConclusionsALN has favorable effects on disc degeneration with bone loss and helps to alleviate IDD while enhancing the biological and mechanical properties of vertebrae and end plates.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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