Generation and evaluation of three rat models with alcoholic osteoporosis

Background: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder which could be influenced by diet. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption results in increasing risk of osteoporosis. Methods: In the present study, we compared three osteoporosis models of rats, which were generated by gastric tube feeding, intraperitoneal injection and fluid forage feeding with ethanol. All of the Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups, including control group which were fed basal diet, intragastric injection group, intraperitoneal injection group and fluid forage group. After six months’ treatment, we determined the bone mineral density (BMD), blood and uric biochemical examinations, pathological examinations and bone biomechanics. Results: Our results revealed that chronic alcoholic consumption significantly reduced the BMD in femur and enhanced the expressions of serum calcium, serum phosphorus and urinary calcium. In addition, induction of ethanol resulted in increases of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP), and decreases of bone glaprotein (BGP), the maximum load and stiffness of femur. Among the three alcoholic osteoporosis models of rats, intraperitoneal injection presented to be an optimization. Conclusion: Based on our results, the alcohol-induced osteoporosis rat model constitutes a tool of great value for future pre-clinic researches.