Investigation of the Effect of Pentoxifylline and Tocopherol on Osseous Healing Following Tooth Extraction in Bisphosphonate-Administered Rats

Abstract

Background:The incidence of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw has increased with the widespread use of bisphosphonates. Present study aimed to evaluate the effect of pentoxifylline and/or tocopherol alone or in combination, on bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis in tooth extracted rat jaw.Methods: 24 rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups and each animal received intraperitoneal zoledronic acid injection 0.06 mg/ kg/week for 3 weeks. Following the zoledronic acid application, the lower right first molars of the rats were extracted on day 22. Starting from the day of tooth extraction animals received intraperitoneal pentoxifylline and/or tocopherol injections. Fourteen days later all rats were sacrificed. RANKL and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in blood were measured, and mandibles were examined histologically. When the inter-group differences were evaluated, the Kruskal Wallis-H Test and the Chi-square analysis were used.Results: Each groups' serum RANKL, OPG and RANKL/OPG levels did not reveal any statistically significant differences. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of bone necrosis, abscess formation, inflammation, osteoblastic/osteoclastic activity, bone cellularity and epithelial integrity.Conclusions: Pentoxifylline and/or tocopherol injections alone or in combination did not have any statistically significant effect on the jaw following tooth extraction in bisphosphonate-induced rat animal model.