Objective: To study the effect of cyclophosphamide (Cy) on bone formation in the maxillary median suture of young rats.
Study design: Doses of 30 mg/kg body weight of Cy were administered to 12 experimental rats at 10 and 13 days of age. A corresponding amount of 0.9% sodium chloride was given to 6 control rats at the same ages. At 31 days, the median maxillary suture was studied histologically in the experimental and control rats.
Results: Structural changes of the osteogenic layers and cartilage components of the suture could be seen in the experimental rats. The thickness of the palatal bone was only 66% of that of the control rats, and the experimental rats also exhibited significantly reduced width of the suture.
Conclusion: This study shows that Cy by itself can cause disturbances in bone formation in rats.