Selenium combined with vitamin E and vitamin C restores structural alterations of bones in heparin-induced osteoporosis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of heparin on osteoporosis initiation, and the effect of selenium plus vitamins E and C, and the sole combination of vitamins E and C on the progress of osteoporosis induced by heparin through histologic means. Adult female New Zealand white rabbits were divided into three experimental and three control groups. The experimental rabbits were injected with 1000 IU/kg/day heparin (Liquemine) for 4 weeks. These six groups were administered deionized water (CI and EI), 100 mg/kg/day L-ascorbic acid plus 100 mg/kg/day alpha-tocopherol acetate (CII and EII), and 0.05 mg/kg/day sodium selenite, plus these vitamins orally, with a gastric catheter (CIII and EIII), respectively. At the end of the experimental period, the femurs of the animals were collected and investigated under a light photomicroscope. Heparin caused important alterations in bone, such as an improper lamellar structure and a large uncalcified bone matrix. These findings implied the early phase of osteoporosis induced by heparin use. The combination of vitamins E and C given to the experimental rabbits partially prevented this bone tissue destruction. When sodium selenite was given together with vitamins E and C to the osteoporosis model rabbits, the long bone tissue had almost the same structure as in normal rabbits, for example the development of numerous bone trabeculae. Our results suggest that a combination of sodium selenite with vitamins E and C was more effective than combinations of single vitamins to prevent structural alterations in these model bones.