Effects of steroidal and nonsteroidal drugs on tooth movement and root resorption in the rat molar.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the administration of aspirin, acetaminophen, meloxicam, celecoxib, and prednisolone have no effect on root resorption and tooth movement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mesial force of 50 g was applied to the left maxillary first molars of sixty 10-week-old male Wistar rats using nickel titanium closed coil springs attached to the cervical area of the incisors. The rats were randomly divided into 12 groups of 5 each. High and low doses of aspirin, acetaminophen, meloxicam, celecoxib, and prednisolone were administered via drinking water for 2 weeks. The experimental control group had tooth movement but received no drug. The negative control group received neither tooth movement nor drugs. The amount of tooth movement was measured on digitized lateral cephalometric radiographs. Rats were sacrificed after 2 weeks. Mesial and distal roots (distobuccal and distopalatal) were examined using scanning electron and three-dimensional (3D) scanning laser microscopes. The surface area, depth, volume, and roughness of the root resorption craters were measured. RESULTS: When compared with experimental control rats, only prednisolone- and high-dose celecoxib-treated groups showed significantly less root resorption and less tooth movement. Although low dose celecoxib-treated group significantly decreased the tooth movement, root resorption was similar to the control group. Furthermore, resorption craters showed a smoother surface in the prednisolone-treated rats. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis was rejected. Administration of prednisolone and high-dose celecoxib reduces root resorption and interferes with tooth movement in rats. Both drugs may interfere in the arachidonic acid cascade depending on dose thresholds.

Molecular analysis of RANKL-independent cell fusion of osteoclast-like cells induced by TNF-alpha, lipopolysaccharide, or peptidoglycan.

Focusing on the final step of osteoclastogenesis, we studied cell fusion from tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive mononuclear cells into multinuclear cells. TRAP-positive mononuclear cells before generation of multinuclear cells by cell fusion were differentiated from RAW264.7 cells by treatment with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), and then the cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), followed by culturing for further 12 h. LPS-induced cell fusion even in the absence of RANKL. Similarly, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and peptidoglycan (PGN) induced cell fusion, but M-CSF did not. The cell fusion induced by RANKL, TNF-alpha, and LPS was specifically blocked by osteoprotegerin (OPG), anti-TNF-alpha antibody, and polymyxin B, respectively. LPS- and PGN-induced cell fusion was partly inhibited by anti-TNF-alpha antibody but not by OPG. When TRAP-positive mononuclear cells fused to yield multinuclear cells, phosphorylation of Akt, Src, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38MAPK (p38), and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) was observed. The specific chemical inhibitors LY294002 (PI3K), PP2 (Src), U0126 (MAPK-ERK kinase (MEK)/ERK), and SP600125 (JNK) effectively suppressed cell fusion, although SB203580 (p38) did not. mRNA of nuclear factor of activated T-cells c1 (NFATc1) and dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP) during the cell fusion was quantified, however, there was no obvious difference among the TRAP-positive mononuclear cells treated with or without M-CSF, RANKL, TNF-alpha, LPS, or PGN. Collectively, RANKL, TNF-alpha, LPS, and PGN induced cell fusion of osteoclasts through their own receptors. Subsequent activation of signaling pathways involving PI3K, Src, ERK, and JNK molecules was required for the cell fusion. Although DC-STAMP is considered to be a requisite for cell fusion of osteoclasts, cell fusion-inducing factors other than DC-STAMP might be necessary for the cell fusion.

U0126 and PD98059, specific inhibitors of MEK, accelerate differentiation of RAW264.7 cells into osteoclast-like cells.

Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells that differentiate from hematopoietic cells and possess characteristics responsible for bone resorption. To study the involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in osteoclastogenesis of the murine monocytic cell line RAW264.7, which can differentiate into osteoclast-like cells in the presence of the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), we treated the cells with specific inhibitors of p38 MAPK, PD169316 and SB203580, and specific inhibitors of MAPK extracellular signaling-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK), U0126 and PD98059. Each inhibitor blocked differentiation into osteoclast-like cells when the cells were plated at the standard cell density (2000-4000 cells per well (96-well)). However, the effect of MEK inhibitors on osteoclastogenesis varied according to the initial cell density during culture, because cell growth was clearly inhibited by them. When the cells were plated at more than 8000 cells per well, marked enhancement and acceleration of the differentiation were observed. In addition, immunoblot analysis revealed that phosphorylation of ERK was increased by treatment with the p38 inhibitors, whereas the MEK inhibitors increased phosphorylation of p38, which implies a seesaw-like balance between ERK and p38 phosphorylation. We suggest that osteoclastogenesis is regulated under a balance between ERK and p38 pathways and that the MEK/ERK pathway negatively regulates osteoclastogenesis while the p38 pathway does so positively. This is the first report that an inhibitor of signal transduction enhanced osteoclastogenesis.