Effect of dexamethasone on osteoclast formation in the alveolar bone of rabbits

This study was planned to determine whether a short period dexamethasone treatment induce alveolar bone loss or not, therefore, twenty six male albino rabbits were divided into three groups as follow: Test groups I (10 rabbits) received 1.56 mg/kg dexamethasone intraperitoneal injection daily for two weeks, test group II (10 rabbits) received 3.12 mg/kg dexamethasone intraperitoneal injection daily, and the control group (6 rabbits) received saline solution for same period. The animals were sacrificed and histological sections were prepared from the alveolar bone of molar areas of mandible, as well as morphometric analysis of osteoclasts number was performed. The results showed a significant increase in the number of osteoclasts, which indicates that bone loss, is quite inevitable secondary to dexamethasone treatment even in a short period of treatment for two weeks.