title: Demonstration that ethanol inhibits bone matrix synthesis and mineralization in the rat.
abstract: The effects of ethanol on bone and mineral metabolism were investigated in 3 groups of male rats. The first group received ethanol administered as 36% of caloric content in a liquid diet for 3 weeks. A second group of pair-fed animals was given the same liquid diet, except that sucrose was substituted isocalorically for ethanol. A third group of rats was fed standard laboratory chow. The ethanol-treated rats gained significantly less weight than laboratory chow-fed controls but gained the same weight as the pair-fed animals. Ethanol-treated rats had a modest but significant decrease in mean serum calcium compared to pair-fed controls (10.3 +/- 0.1 vs. 10.6 +/- 0.1 mg/dl, p less than .001). Mean serum phosphate, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and immunoreactive parathyroid hormone were the same in the 3 groups. The ethanol-treated animals showed significant decreases in mean tibial length (1.88 +/- 0.01 vs. 1.98 +/- 0.02 cm, p less than .01), mean endosteal bone formation rate (0.0006 +/- 0.0001 vs. 0.0026 +/- 0.0003 mm3/day, p less than .001) and mean periosteal bone formation rate (0.022 +/- 0.001 vs. 0.026 +/- 0.001 mm3/day, p less than .01) compared to the pair-fed controls. The ethanol-treated rats demonstrated significant decreases in mean periosteal mineralization rate (7.5 +/- 0.3 vs. 10.3 +/- 0.6 micron/day, p less than .01) and mean periosteal apposition rate (8.5 +/- 0.5 vs. 11.0 +/- 0.8 micron/day, p less than .05) and a significant increase in mean periosteal osteoid thickness (15.5 +/- 1.4 vs. 10.4 +/- 0.8 micron, p less than .01) compared to pair-fed controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Loma Linda University, CA.
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals; D000431:Ethanol