Osteoarthritis (OA) is highly prevalent
chronic disease affecting synovial
joints leading to irreversible damage
to all joint structures. Statins, in
addition
to their cholesterol-lowering
activity,
have pleiotropic effects. The
aim
of this study is to evaluate and
compare
the potential prophylactic
effects
of oral, intraarticular atorvastatin
or their combination in surgically
induced OA in rats through medial
meniscal
tear procedure. Rats were
divided
into five groups; control normal
group, control non-treated osteoarthritic
group, oral atorvastatine
group < br />(10 mg/kg), intraarticular atorvastatine
group (0.4mg/ /kg) and combined oral and intraarticular atorvastatine
group. The drug given immediately
after surgical induction of
OA
for six weeks.. All atorvastatin
treated
groups showed significant reduction
in matrix metalloproteinase
13
(MMP 13), interleukin- 1 ß (IL- 1
ß)
and tumor necrosis factor- α
(TNF-α),
malondialdehyde (MDA)
and
significant increase in reduced
glutathione
(GSH). Also, there were
significant
histological improvement
compared
to control osteoarthritic
non-treated
group.
It can be concluded that atorvastatin
has beneficial prophylactic effect
and reduced the development of OA lesions in a rat model of OA
when given early after surgical induction
of OA either by oral, IA or
combined
routs and may be suggested
as a promising OA disease modifying
drugs. It was also found that
combined
oral and IA administration
of
atorvastatin produced better improvement
than oral or IA alone, this
may
be explained by synergism in
action
of atorvastatin when given by
combined
oral and IA.