Decreased breaking strength of diabetic rat bone and its improvement by insulin treatment

A simple instrument is described which measures the breaking strength of rat bones. The apparatus yields reproducible results and is suitable for use in measuring the strength of bones from both large and small animals. Diabetic rat femurs were more fragile and required less force to break in contrast to those from diabetic rats treated with insulin or normal rats. Daily insulin treatment significantly improved the bone cortical thickness and enhanced their capacity to withstand pressure, although these did not reach the level of the normal controls. The amount of force required to break the bone appears to be related to its cortical thickness and mass.