Growth Hormone Releasing Hexapeptide-6 (GHRP-6): Possible Protective Role against Experimentally-Induced Osteoporosis in Female Albino Rats | ||||
| Bulletin of Egyptian Society for Physiological Sciences | ||||
| Article 6, Volume 32, Issue 1, June 2012, Page 77-92 PDF (272.77 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/besps.2012.35506 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| Ibrahim Ibrahim* ; Walaa Nazmy; Adel Saad; El-Shymaa Abdel-Hakeem | ||||
| Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Postmenopausal osteoporosis is by far the most common cause of age related bone loss. Growth hormone (GH) is not only important for linear body growth during childhood, but it is also a major determinant of adult bone mass. GH secretion diminishes with aging. Therefore, there might be a causal link between the agerelated decline in GH secretion and bone loss after menopause. So, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of growth hormone releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6), a synthetic GH secretagogue, on bone loss in ovariectomized albino rats and to compare the results with those of estrogen replacement therapy as a strategy for treatment in such condition. All rats (except the control rats) were subjected to bilateral ovariectomy and were divided into four groups (10 rats each): sham operated control, ovariectomized (OVX), OVX+ estrogen supplemented and OVX+GHRP-6 treated groups. Rats were administrated their treatments subcutaneously daily for 6 weeks. In the present study, GHRP-6 was equally powerful as estrogen in preventing OVX-induced bone loss. Even more, it caused a +ve shift between bone resorption and bone formation for the benefit of bone formation as evidenced by the higher serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (a marker of bone formation) without any significant change in acid phosphatase level (a marker of bone resorption). In conclusion, GHRP-6 prevents ovariectomy-induced bone loss in albino rats mainly via preservation of bone tissue and increasing bone formation. Hence, GHRP-6 could be of value for postmenopausal osteoporotic women who cannot tolerate estrogens or for whom estrogens are contraindicated. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| GHRP-6; Ovariectomy; Osteoporosis; Estrogen; Rats | ||||
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