Phytoestrogenic compounds for prevention of steroid-associated osteonecrosis.

Abstract

The present study used sixty-two 28-week-old male NewZealand white rabbits and an established injection protocol for inducing steroid-associated ON. Apart from the control group (CON; n=14; corresponding vehicle/day), rabbits were assigned into the following groups for receiving simultaneous oral administration of EF, including a low dose group (L-EF: n=16; 10 mg/kg body weight/day), a middle dose group (MEF: n=16; 20 mg/kg/day), and a high dose group (H-EF: n=16; 40 mg/kg/day). Two weeks later after induction, bilateral proximal femora were dissected for MicroCT-based angiography of intraosseous vasculature and histopathological examination of ON lesions and size distribution of extravascular leakage particles. The incidence of ON was defined as the numbers of ON rabbits divided by the numbers of total rabbits in each group. All corresponding evaluation protocols were established in our previous studies.