EVIDENCE THAT CYCLOSPORINE-G IS LESS DELETERIOUS TO RAT BONE INVIVO THAN CYCLOSPORINE-A

We have previously shown that CsA administration to rats causes a high turnover bone loss with bone resorption exceeding bone formation. Similar findings have been reported in renal and cardiac transplantation patients administered CsA. Cyclosporine-G (CsG), a natural equipotent immunosuppressive analogue of CsA, has been shown to be less nephrotoxic than CsA. We therefore compared the effects of CsG and CsA on bone mineral metabolism. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 equal groups as follows: group A (n = 20) was the control; group B (n = 20) received CsA 15 mg/kg by daily gavage; and group C received CsG 15 mg/kg by daily gavage for 28 days. Rats were bled weekly for measurement of circulating biochemical parameters of bone mineral metabolism and after sacrifice on day 28, the tibiae were removed for histomorphometric analysis. The tibial bone histomorphometry revealed that the percentage of bone volume was significantly reduced, and the osteoclast count increased in both the CsA and CsG group, but significantly less so in the CsG than the CsA group. Parameters reflecting bone formation in the CsG group were similar to controls but significantly different from the CsA group. Bone Gla protein levels in the CsA group were significantly increased compared with the control and CsG groups from day 14. Serum 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D was increased significantly in the CsA group on days 14 and 28 compared with both control and CsG groups, and was significantly elevated in the CsG group compared with controls on the same days. We conclude that CsG is significantly less deleterious to bone mineral metabolism than CsA in the rat in vivo.