Investigation of atorvastatin effect over the cartilage tissue in the laboratory rats

IVSUMMARYInvestigation of atorvastatin effect over the cartilage tissue in thelaboratory ratsMedical Dr. Enver Taner BaltacıSupervisor : Associated Prof. Dr. Günhan KarakurumOrthopaedics and TraumatologyOctober 2006, 39 pagesSo far statins are widely used in hypercholesterolemia, which is a popular disease.Osteoarthritis effects miilions of people world-wide. The disease usually effectsweight bearing joints. Joint degeneration is a disorder, or elderly which can not beprevented but it?s progress can be stopped partially by medical and surgicalinterventions. We aimed to evaluate the relationship betwen osteoarthritis andstatins. We performed our study on 60 young adolescent female rats, weighing 200-250 gr each. Rats were randonly assigned two groups, each consisting of 30 rats.Atorvastatin(1mg/kg) was added to the feed of the experiment group during thefollowing 4 months. In our study, samples from both groups were examined and ineither group no sign of degeneration was observed.Key Words : Statins,Osteoarthritis.