Abstract
Antineoplastic agents used in the treatment of acute leukemia in children may harm growth and development, when used in childhood, due to their strong side effects, even if they have excellent therapeutic effects. The present study was conducted to clarify the effect of intraperitoneal injection of an antineoplastic agent on the whole body and craniofacial region; namely, vincristine (VCR) or cyclophosphamide (CPA), which has been widely used in clinical practice, was intraperitoneally injected in rats during the growth period, and then changes in the humerus and craniofacial bones were morphologically and histopathologically observed and compared. The results obtained were as follows:
1. The VCR-treated group showed body weight gains comparable to those of the control group, while the CPA-treated group had lower weight gains.
2. Craniofacial growth was identical between the VCR-treated and control groups. In the CPA-treated group, the growth of the anterior craniofacial width was delayed at 22 days after birth, and measurement were decreased in all sites examined at 54 days after birth.
3. The length of the humerus at 54 days after birth did not differ between the VCR-treated and control groups, but was shorter in the CPA-treated group, compared with the other 2 groups. Osteogenesis in the VCR-treated group did not differ from that seen in the control group. In the CPA-treated group, osteogenesis with normal modeling was inhibited at 22 days after birth, but was restored to the normal level at 54 days after birth.
Based on these results, it was confirmed that CPA inhibits bone modeling in an earlier growth period, compared with VCR, causing the delay of growth and development of the whole body as well as of the craniofacial region in rats.
