Abstract
Summary
Acetazolamide sodium, when incorporated in the diet at concentrations of 0.05 and 0.2% and pair-fed to female Car-worth rats for 20 days, had no significant effects on plasma Ca, Na, and K levels, the defatted dry weights of the humerus, or the renal Ca, Mg, K, Zn, and P levels. Growth rate was moderately and progressively inhibited with increasing dosage. At the 0.5% level, which other studies have shown to prevent the development of disuse osteoporosis in rats, only two parameters, plasma Ca and renal Ca, were affected. Plasma Ca was increased from 9.7 to 10.6 mg/100 ml (p < .001); renal Ca content was increased from 0.31 to 0.58 mg/g of dry weight of kidney (p < .025). It is concluded that acetazolamide fed to female rats for a 3-week period has no major toxicity related to mineral metabolism at dietary levels equal to and below that level which has been shown to prevent disuse osteoporosis in rats. These findings further enhance the potential of acetazolamide as an orally effective therapeutic agent for the control of osteoporosis of disuse in man.
The author acknowledges the technical assistance of Richard Lane.
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