effects of zoledronic acid and vitamin e on surgical– induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in rabbit

Background: femoral head osteonecrosis is a progressive disease with disabling outcomes in hip joint if not treated.this study was designed to compare the effects of zoledronic acid plus vitamin e versus zoledronic acid alone insurgical induced femoral head osteonecrosis in rabbits.methods: 26 japanese white adult normal male rabbits at 28-32 weeks old were undertaken surgical femoraldislocation to devastate the femoral neck vessels; the femoral neck vessels were ligated and the hip was relocated.next, the first 10 rabbits received zoledronic acid injections at 1st and the 4th weeks; the second group (10 rabbits)received zoledronic acid injections at 1st and the 4th week along with daily oral vitamin e for 12 weeks; and thethird group was considered as non-treated control group. radiographic and postmortem pathological assessmentsincluding the ficat classification, epiphyseal quotient (eq), new bone formation, and residual necrotic bone (rnb)were performed and compared after week 12.results: a significant difference was found between the combination therapy group and the control group in ficatclassification at 12th weeks (p=0.048), but, the difference between monotherapy and combination therapy groups at12th weeks was nonsignificant (p=0.37). also, both treated groups had significant difference with the control group forrnb (p=0.015). there were no significant differences between the three groups for ficat classification at the 6th week(p=0.65); eq at 6th (p=0.59) and 12th week (p=0.64); and nbf (p=0.55).conclusion: although zoledronic acid therapy along with vitamin e could improve some radiologic and pathologicalindices related to femoral head osteonecrosis, vitamin e showed a relative impact.