Effects of anti-osteoporosis drugs against dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis-like phenotype using a zebrafish scale-regeneration model

There are several animal models of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP), but each requires a long time to evaluate drug effects. Zebrafish scales are classified as dermal bone and potentially represent a convenient animal model of GIOP because they rapidly regenerate following their removal. We clarified that dexamethasone-treated regenerating scales showed malformations, decreased size and circularity. Anti-osteoporosis drugs rescued the scale malformation phenotype eight-days following the removal of scales. Hence, the dexamethasone-induced regenerating scale malformation model may be a useful animal model for discovering drugs to treat GIOP. (C) 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Japanese Pharmacological Society.