Comparison of effects of parathyroidectomy and ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonate (EHDP) administration upon bone synthesis of hydroxyproline and urinary excretion of hydroxyproline in rats

Abstract

Disodium ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonate (EHDP) may impair mineralization and reduce turnover of bone. However, its administration has been shown to lead to an accumulation of osteoid in both man and the rat. Using rats, the effects of surgical parathyroidectomy and administration of EHDP (30 mg EHDP/kg body weight by subcutaneous injection daily for 5 days) upon bone composition, uptake of3H-proline into hydroxyproline in bone and the subsequent urinary excretion of labelled and unlabelled hydroxyproline have been compared. Both parathyroidectomized (PTX) rats and EHDP-treated animals accumulated more hydroxyproline in bone and excreted less total urinary hydroxyproline than sham-PTX control animals, the changes induced by EHDP being of greater magnitude than those induced by surgical parathyroidectomy. Skeletal buildup of hydroxyproline was associated with decreased catabolism of mature collagen rather than enhanced synthesis of hydroxyproline in bone. EHDP administration, although decreasing urinary excretion of newly synthesised hydroxyproline, did not alter the skeletal synthesis of hydroxyproline as measured by uptake of3H-proline. In all parameters measured, responses to EHDP were similar in PTX and sham-PTX rats. It is concluded that depression of parathyroid hormone mediated bone turnover may have contributed to, but did not fully account for, the lowering of bone turnover and changes in bone composition induced by EHDP in sham-PTX rats in the present experiment.