Bone mineral density changes after ovariectomy in rats as an osteopenic model : stepwise description of double dorso-lateral approach.
OBJECTIVE
This study describes a method for inducing osteopenia using bilateral ovariectomy (OVX), which causes significant changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in rats.


METHODS
Twenty-five 10-week-old female Sprague Dawley rats were used. Five rats were euthanized after two weeks, and BMD was measured in their femora. The other 20 rats were assigned to one of two groups : a sham group (n = 10), which underwent a sham operation, and an OVX group (n = 10), which underwent bilateral OVX at 12 weeks of age. After six weeks, five rats from each group were euthanized, and BMD was measured in their femora. The same procedures were performed in the remaining rats form each group eight weeks later.


RESULTS
The femur BMD was significantly lower in the six-week OVX group than in the six-week sham group, and in the eight-week OVX group than in the eight-week sham group.


CONCLUSIONS
Bilateral OVX is a safe method for creating an osteopenic rat model. The significant decrease in BMD appears six weeks after bilateral OVX.
Department of Neurosurgery, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Sung Bae
SB
Park
Yoon Jin
YJ
Lee
Chun Kee
CK
Chung