Experimental renal failure and iron overload: a histomorphometric study in the alveolar bone of rats

Renal failure is a serious disease of a relatively high incidence, which among other lesions, causes bone alterations. These patients frequently suffer from anemia that is generally treated with iron. Given that iron overload inhibits bone formation, our aim was to evaluate the effect of iron on the interradicular bone of animals with experimental renal failure. Acute renal failure was induced in male rats by 5/6 nephrectomy. The animals were subjected to iron overload in the form of daily intraperitoneal injections of 88 mg/kg body weight of iron-dextran over a period of 16 days. Tetracyclines were injected intraperitoneally 14 days apart to evaluate dynamic parameters of bone. Serum urea and creatinine levels were evaluated immediately before the animals were killed on day 30. Static and dynamic histomorphometric measurements were performed. The data indicate that the iron overload modified the response of the renal failure animals which showed decreased interradicular bone volume and adynamic bone disease, characterized by reduced cell activity. These results should be taken into account when renal failure patients treated with iron must undergo dental treatments that depend on bone forming activity for their success.