Structural and histomorphometric evaluations of ferutinin effects on the uterus of ovariectomized rats during osteoporosis treatment

Aims: The effects of chronic administration of Ferutinin (phytoestrogen found in the plants of genus Ferula),compared with those elicited by estradiol benzoate, were evaluated, following ovariectomy, on the uterus ofovariectomized rats as regard weight, size, structure and histomorphometry.Main methods: The experimental study included 40 female Sprague–Dawley rats, assigned to two different protocols,i.e. preventive and recovering. In the preventive protocol, ferutinin (2 mg/kg/day)was orally administeredfor 30 days, starting from the day after ovariectomy; in the recovering protocol, ferutinin was administered, atthe same dosage, for 30 days starting fromthe 60th day after ovariectomy, when osteoporosiswas clearly established.Its effects were compared with those of estradiol benzoate (1.5 μg per rat twice a week, subcutaneouslyinjected) vs. vehicle-treated ovariectomized controls and vehicle-treated sham-operated controls. Uteri were removed,weighed and analysed under both the structural and histomorphometrical points of view.Key findings: Our data show that ferutinin acts, similarly to estradiol benzoate, on the uterus stimulating endometrialand myometrial hypertrophy; this notwithstanding, the phytoestrogen ferutinin, in contrast to estrogentreatment, appears to increase apoptosis in uterine luminal and glandular epithelia.Significance: Ferutinin, used in osteoporosis treatment primarily for bonemass recovering, seems in linewith aneventual protective function against uterine carcinoma, unlike estrogens so far employed in hormone replacementtherapy (HRT).