Zoledronic acid, an amino- bisphosphonate, prolongs survival of skin allogras

Purpose: Zoledronic acid (ZOL), an eective nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate used to prevent excessive bone loss in clinical practice, has been shown to aect the develop- ment of dendritic cells by redirecting dierentiation toward a state of atypical maturation. �e study was aimed to examine whether ZOL can reduce acute rejection of skin allo- gras. Methods: A skin transplantation model using C57BL/6 to BALB/c mice was used. ZOL was injected intraperitoneally into transplant recipients post-surgically. Grasurvival, body weight, leukocyte count, hepatic and renal functions were assessed. Results: ZOL treatment signicantly prolonged skin allograsurvival in mice. In terms of toxicity, there were no signicant dierences in body weight, leukocyte count, plasma al- anine aminotransferase or creatinine levels between the ZOL-treated and control groups. Histopathology showed that the loss of skin integrity seen in control group was prevented by ZOL treatment. In draining lymph nodes and spleen, the number and clustering extent of mononuclear cells were markedly declined by ZOL treatment. �e plasma IL-6 levels were reduced by treatment of ZOL.