This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by GOULDING, A. Articles by GOLD, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by GOULDING, A. Articles by GOLD, E.

Effects of Chronic Prednisolone Treatment on Bone Resorption and Bone Composition in Intact and Ovariectomized Rats and in Ovariectomized Rats Receiving β-Estradiol^*

Department of Medicine, University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Ailsa Goulding, Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Abstract

To examine the interactions between estrogen deficiency and glucocorticoid excess on bone metabolism the osteopenic effects of a standard dose of prednisolone (2 mg/kg BW-day) were studied in sham-ovariectomized (Sham-OVX), ovariectomized (OVX), and OVX rats given replacement β- estradiol (OVX + E₂). For 12 weeks six groups of female albino rats aged 4 months which had their skeletons labeled with ⁴⁵Ca were fed matched amounts of low-calcium (0.1% Ca) hydroxyproline- free diet. The six treatment groups were: group 1, Sham- OVX; group 2, Sham-OVX + prednisolone; group 3, OVX; group 4, OVX + prednisolone; group 5, OVX + E₂; group 6, OVX + E₂ + prednisolone. Bone resorption was estimated by studying the urinary excretion of hydroxyproline and ⁴⁵Ca. Parathyroid function was assessed indirectly from urinary cAMP excretion. Treatments did not influence parathyroid activity or serum levels of calcium or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. However, ovariectomy increased bone resorption and induced osteopenia whereas prednisolone decreased bone resorption and formation and caused osteopenia. Ovariectomy increased the rate of bone resorption in prednisolone-treated rats; prednisolone lowered the rates of bone resorption and formation in OVX rats. The osteopenic effects of prednisolone and ovariectomy were additive and independent. E₂ protected bone from the osteopenic effects of ovariectomy but did not affect bone loss induced by prednisolone. These results suggest prophylactic estrogen should help to avoid bone loss from estrogen deficiency in patients requiring chronic high dose glucocorticoid treatment. (Endocrinology 122: 482–487, 1987)

Footnotes

^* This work was supported by the MRC of New Zealand.

Received July 14, 1987.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Sbaihi, K. Rousseau, S. Baloche, F. Meunier, M. Fouchereau-Peron, and S. Dufour Cortisol mobilizes mineral stores from vertebral skeleton in the European eel: an ancestral origin for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis? J. Endocrinol., May 1, 2009; 201(2): 241 - 252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M M Conradie, H de Wet, D D R Kotze, J M Burrin, F S Hough, and P A Hulley Vanadate prevents glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis of osteoblasts in vitro and osteocytes in vivo J. Endocrinol., November 1, 2007; 195(2): 229 - 240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. R. Rubin and J. P. Bilezikian The Role of Parathyroid Hormone in the Pathogenesis of Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis: A Re-Examination of the Evidence J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2002; 87(9): 4033 - 4041. [Full Text] [PDF]

				B Gudbjornsson, U I Juliusson, and F V Gudjonsson Prevalence of long term steroid treatment and the frequency of decision making to prevent steroid induced osteoporosis in daily clinical practice Ann Rheum Dis, January 1, 2002; 61(1): 32 - 36. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A S Kashyap and S Kashyap A young man with bronchial asthma and an abnormal chest X-ray Postgrad. Med. J., January 1, 2000; 76(891): 41 - 43. [Full Text]

				A. Gohel, M.-B. McCarthy, and G. Gronowicz Estrogen Prevents Glucocorticoid-Induced Apoptosis in Osteoblasts in Vivo and in Vitro Endocrinology, November 1, 1999; 140(11): 5339 - 5347. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				K. K. Miller and A. Klibanski Amenorrheic Bone Loss J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., June 1, 1999; 84(6): 1775 - 1783. [Full Text]

				B. P. Lukert and L. G. Raisz Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis: Pathogenesis and Management Ann Intern Med, March 1, 1990; 112(5): 352 - 364. [Abstract] [PDF]