Minocycline ameliorates osteoporosis induced by ovariectomy (OVX) and iron accumulation via iron chelation, bone metabolism regulation and inhibition of oxidative stress

To investigate the effect and mechanism of minocycline on iron accumulation-related postmenopausal osteoporosis. The present study established a rat model of ovariectomy (OVX), gave rats ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) and treated them with minocycline, then examined the severity of osteoporosis and iron metabolism in rats. To further explore the mechanism, osteoblasts were treated with FAC and minocycline, then their effects on cell viability, apoptosis, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, bone metabolism proteins, iron metabolism proteins, and oxidative stress in osteoblasts were measured. In the animal study, OVX significantly decreased the serum estradiol level. Both OVX and FAC significantly increased the serum ferritin and tibial iron level, which was significantly decreased by minocycline (P