[Atorvastatin promotes the healing of alveolar bone defect in rats and its effect on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway].

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effect of atorvastatin on alveolar bone defect model in rats, and to observe the effect of atorvastatin on Wnt/β-catenin.

Methods: Thirty rats were randomly divided into normal group (group N), model group (group M) and atorvastatin administration group (group ATV). Except group N, bone defects were made in other rats' alveolar bone to construct alveolar bone defect model. After successful modeling, 20 mg/kg atorvastatin suspension was administered by gavage in group ATV, and the same amount of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution was administered by gavage in group N and group M for twenty-one days. After the last administration, tail vein blood was collected to detect the concentrations of serum osteoprotegerin (OPG), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (BPG). H-E staining was used to observe the pathological changes of maxillary defect area, and lane Sandhu score was performed. Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase(TRAP) staining was used to detect the number of osteoclasts in the defect area. Real time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR) and Western blot(WB) were used to detect Wnt, β-catenin and Runx2 mRNA protein expression. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 23.0 software package.

Results: Compared with group N, the concentrations of OPG, ALP, BGP and Lane Sandhu score in group M decreased, and the number of osteoclasts increased. Compared with group M, the concentrations of OPG, ALP and BGP and lane Sandhu score in group ATV increased, and the number of osteoclasts decreased. After H-E staining, the amount of bone formation in maxillary defect area in group N was more,there was fewer bone tissues in the defect area in group M, the amount of bone tissues in the defect area increased in group ATV. Compared with group N, Wnt, β-catenin and Runx2 mRNA protein decreased. Compared with group M, Wnt, β-catenin and Runx2 mRNA protein expression increased.

Conclusions: Atorvastatin can promote the healing of alveolar bone defect and accelerate bone reconstruction in rat models. This effect may be related to the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.