Levodopa attenuates cellular apoptosis in steroid-associated necrosis of the femoral head

Xi, Hongbo; Tao, Weijian; Jian, Zhengguang; Sun, Xuefeng; Gong, Xiaohong; Huang, Lixin; Dong, Tianhua

Rabbits were randomly divided into three groups. Group A (n=15), the model group, was injected with 10 µg/kg LPS (Escherichia coli serotype 0111:B4; 10 mg; Sigma-Aldrich; Merck Millipore, Darmstadt, Germany) through the ear vein, and 20 mg/kg MPS (500 mg/bottle; H20060052; Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY, USA) into the right gluteus 24 h later, for a total of three times with a 24-h interval between injections. Group B (n=15), the treatment group, was prepared using the same protocol as the model group, followed by oral administration of LEV (0.4 g/kg/day; Shanghai Fuda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) immediately after modeling. Group C (n=14), the control group, was injected with the same volume of normal saline in the same manner and at the same time points as the above two groups. During the experiment, all rabbits were injected with penicillin (800,000 U/per rabbit, twice per week; Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Harbin, China) in order to prevent infection. Following imaging observation, seven rabbits from each group were sacrificed via air embolism at the 6th-and 8th-week of the experiment for subsequent analysis.