This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of co-treatment with purified
annatto oil (PAO) or its granules (GRA, Chronic®) with that of
testosterone on the
orchiectomy-induced
osteoporosis in Wistar rats. After surgery, rats were treated from day 7 until day 45 with
testosterone only (
TES, 7 mg/kg, IM) or
TES + PAO or GRA (200 mg/kg, p.o.). The following parameters were evaluated: food/water intake, weight, HDL,
LDL,
glucose,
triglycerides (TG), total
cholesterol (TC),
alkaline phosphatase levels, blood
phosphorus and
calcium contents, femur weight, structure (through scanning electron microscopy), and
calcium content (through atomic absorption spectrophotometry). Our results show that
orchiectomy could significantly change the blood
lipid profile and decrease bone integrity parameters.
Testosterone reposition alone could improve some endpoints, including
LDL, TC, bone weight, and bone
calcium concentration. However, other parameters were not significantly improved. Co-treatment with PAO or GRA improved the blood
lipid profile and bone integrity more significantly and improved some endpoints not affected by
testosterone reposition alone (such as TG levels and trabeculae sizes). The results suggest that co-treatment with
annatto products improved the blood
lipid profile and the anti-
osteoporosis effects of
testosterone. Overall, GRA had better results than PAO.