Abstract
Objective: To determine the effect of zinc on salt induced bone damage in rats.
Study Design: Laboratory based randomized control trial.
Place and Duration of Study: The Anatomy department of Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi,
hosted the conduction of research with the cooperation of National Institute of Health, Islamabad. The study
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commenced on 17 September 2015 and completed on 17 March 2016.
Materials and Methods: Forty five female Sprague Dawley rats, 10-12 weeks old were used in the study. The
animals were randomly divided into 3 groups. The rats in experimental group A fed on high salt diet (8%NaCl)
whereas animals in experimental group B were given high salt diet supplemented with zinc (50mg/kg/day) for
eight weeks however, the diet of control group was not tempered with. Blood samples were drawn at the start
of intervention through tail vein and at the end of the experiment by intracardiac puncture for hormonal assay.
All rats were dissected, left humeri and femora were removed, decalcified and five micrometer (µm) sections
were obtained after tissue processing. Tissues were stained with Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for histological
parameters. The quantitative data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version
21 and was expressed as Mean + S.D.
One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by Post hoc tukey test was applied for inter group comparison
of parameters. T-test was applied for intragroup comparison of values. Result having p-value <0.05 was
considered statistically significant.
Results: Marked histological changes were identified in the experimental groups. These changes were of
greater severity in high salt diet group as compared to the zinc supplemented group in which reverse beneficial
effects were observed. Fall in serum calcium and alkaline phosphatase levels were deemed substantial in group
A with respect to group B.
Conclusion: Zinc has a Protective role against High salt exposed diet induced damage on the histomorphology
of bone tissue.
