Sensitivity to a low calcium diet in different bones: an experimental study in the adult rat

Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing an average of 550 g were age matched into one control group and one group given a low calcium diet. The animals were followed for 34 wk. There was a similar loss of cancellous bone tissue in the proximal tibia, the first tail vertebra and the mandible due to calcium deficiency. The bone loss was not related to the initial amount of cancellous bone or to the bone-forming activity, which did not differ between experimental and control animals.