Standardized Bending and Breaking Test for the Normal and Osteoporotic Metaphyseal Tibias of the Rat: Effect of Estradiol, Testosterone, and Raloxifene

Abstract

Estradiol is superior to raloxifene concerning stiffness and yield load, and both are superior to testosterone. We conclude that the described three-point bending test for the metaphyseal tibia is a highly sensitive method to study hormones and substances with regard to their osteoprotective character. The precision and the low SD of the presented results are superior to the data from qCT and the calculated index of stiffness (SSI).