Experimental Modeling of Osteoporosis in Animals

Abstract

Experimental studies on animals under conditions of osteopenia and osteoporosis modeling significantly expand the view of the mechanisms of primary and secondary osteoporosis development, help determining the effect of various factors affecting the bone tissue, evaluate the effect of medications, new biomaterials, etc. Osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease; its clinical manifestations depend on a complex interplay of environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors. The review of the literature analyzes the data on the use of animals to assess the features of osteoporosis course when modeling this pathology by surgical and non-surgical methods. The article features the models of osteoporosis which are reproduced on rats and mice being the most accessible objects and the most frequently used by experimenters. The details of modeling the course of such types of osteoporosis as postmenopausal, senile, glucocorticoid-induced, testosterone deficiency (orchiectomy)-induced, immobilization, hypothermia, radiation-induced, etc. are explored. A specific aspect of recent advances in modeling osteoporosis is the creation of transgenic and knockout mice, whose models may be used to detect components of genetic lesions and will certainly contribute to the development of new methods of prevention and therapy of this severe pathology. The similarity and difference of experimental models of osteoporosis describing the pathophysiological changes in humans due to osteoporosis are noted. Emphasis is placed on bioethical norms of working with experimental animals.

Keywords

• osteoporosis, osteopenia, animal modeling, rats, mice, bone pathomorphology