Effects of Concomitant Indomethacin and Conjugated Equine Estrogen on Bone Density and Weight Gain of Ovariectomized RatsA. Panakit and N. Sookvanichsilp*
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Menopause occurs when ovaries stop secreting estradiol. Postmenopausal women usually suffer from various symptoms including osteoporosis. Many of them also suffer from arthritis. Estrogen replacement therapy is effective in the management of osteoporosis in these women while cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors such as indomethacin are used to reduce arthritis pain and inflammation. Moreover, there is evidence of increasing body weight in women at postmenopausal age, suggesting that estrogens may prevent the increase in body weight gain. This study aimed to investigate whether indomethacin, a COX inhibitor, would exhibit any significant interfering effect against the effect of estrogen on bone density, and also to investigate the effect of estrogen alone and in the presence of indomethacin on body weight gain of ovariectomized rats. Female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 170-180 g were divided into 5 groups of 8-9 animals each, i.e. sham, ovariectomized control rats and ovariectomized rats treated with conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg/day, indomethacin at a dose of 2 mg/kg/day, and the drug combination (CEE + indomethacin). Treatment was given orally for 8 weeks. Body weight was determined weekly. The right femur and tibia were carefully removed for determination of bone density at the end of week 8. The results indicated that although CEE could neither prevent the decrease in bone density nor the increase in body weight gain of ovariectomized rats, it could both significantly (p < 0.05) delay the decrease in bone density and the increase in body weight gain. Indomethacin neither had significant effect both on the decrease in bone density of ovariectomized rats and the increase in body weight gain nor had the interfering effect against such effects of CEE. These findings provide evidence to support the benefit of CEE in the management of bone loss in postmenopausal women. Concomitant use of indomethacin may not exhibit any significant interfering effects against the beneficial effects of estrogen on weight gain and bone density.
Keyword:
Indomethacin, Estrogen, Bone Density, Weight Gain, Menopause, osteoporosis, Conjugated Equine Estrogen
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