Abstract.
Daily osteoprotegerin (OPG) injection for 7 or more days prevents bone loss for 3 weeks in rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis (AdA). The present experiments defined the duration of bone protection in AdA provided by a single OPG bolus. Male Lewis rats received OPG at the onset or peak of clinical disease, after which bone mineral density (BMD), erosions, and osteoclasts were evaluated. An OPG bolus (4mg/kg subcutaneously) at onset eliminated osteoclasts, preserved BMD for 7 days, and prevented bone erosions for 4 days. In contrast, an OPG bolus (1, 3, 10, or 30mg/kg intravenously) given at the peak of disease eradicated osteoclasts in a dose-dependent manner but had no impact on bone integrity due to extensive pre-existing bone loss. These data indicate that one OPG injection will inhibit joint erosions for several days, and confirm that bone-sparing therapy must be initiated early in disease to protect joint integrity.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received 30 May 2002; received after revision 2 July 2002; accepted 11 July 2002
RID="h1"
ID="h1"B. Bolon and G. Campagnuolo contributed equally to this work.
RID="*"
ID="*"Corresponding author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bolon, B., Campagnuolo, G. & Feige, U. Duration of bone protection by a single osteoprotegerin injection in rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis. CMLS, Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 59, 1569–1576 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-002-8530-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-002-8530-7