Effects of ethanol on bone metabolism in mice by histomorphometry

Objective:To observe the effects of ethanol on bone metabolism of growing mice by bone histomorphometry.Methods: Thirty six-week-old KM mice were randomly divided into basal control（group A）,normal control（group B）,50%（V/V） ethanol group（group C）according to the dosage of 10 ml/kg once a day for 60 days(（equivalent 4g·kg^-1·d^-1）,All mice were killed and their proximal tibia and tibial diaphysis were processed undecalcified sections and measured by automatic bone image-analysis system.Results: Compared with normal group,index of trabecular bone area（% Tb.Ar） of proximal tibial metaphysis（PTM） decreased obviously（-66%,P＜0.05） in ethanol group.Bone formation rate（BFR/TV） decreased（-35%,P＜0.05）.Cortical bone: static parameter of %Ct.Ar reduced （-7%,P＜0.05）and %Ma.Ar increased（+32%,P＜0.05）,bone endosteal E-BFR/BS dropped apparently（-41%,P＜0.05）.Conclusion:Low dose of ethanol decreased bone metabolism,leading to bone loss of growing mice.