[Postmenopausal osteoporosis and treatment with sex hormones]

An animal model of postmenopausal osteoporosis was established and the animals were treated with sex hormones in the experiment. From a group of fifty female Wistar rats, forty were castrated and ten were subjected to sham operation served as controls. After fourteen weeks, ten rats each from the castrated (the Model group) and control rats were killed. Through bone histomorphometry and bone mineral analysis it was sure that a good model of postmenopausal osteoporosis was established with a high bone turnover rate at the tissue level. The bone loss occurred mainly at the trabecular surface through decreased osteoblastic activity, resulting in a negative balance of the bone metabolitic unite. Of the remaining thirty castrated rats, ten were treated beginning from the 15th week for eight weeks with oestrogen, ten with progesterogen, and ten without treatment served as positive controls. The result showed that stilbestrol at 0.2 mg/day could maintain bone mass, and provera alone at 0.8 mg/day had the similar effect as oestrogen.