Improvement of Large Animal Model for Studying Osteoporosis

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the impact of steroidal medications on the structure and mechanical properties of supporting tissues of sheep under experimentally-induced osteoporosis. A total of 21 sheep were used, divided into three groups: a negative control (KN) (n = 3), a positive control (KP) (n = 3) with ovariectomy, and a steroidal group (KS) (n = 15) with ovariectomy and glucocorticosteroids. All animals were kept on a low protein and mineral diet and had limited physical activity and access to sunlight. Quantitative computed tomography was the examination method. The declines in the examined parameter values in the KS group were more than three times higher than in the KN group. The study suggests that a glucocorticosteroidal therapy accelerates and intensifies processes taking place in the course of osteoporosis. The combination of glucocorticosteroids with ovariectomy, a restrictive diet, limited physical activity, and no access to sunlight leads to a decrease in radiological bone density.