Species Differences in the Reaction of the Mammalian Skeleton to Estrogens.

Abstract

Estrogenic steroid hormones stimulate endosteal bone formation and inhibit bone resorption in mice. In young growing rats, the same substances do not produce endosteal bone but interfere with endochondral ossification by inhibiting resorption of cartilage matrix and new bone. In other rodents, such as hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits, and also in cats and dogs, there is no apparent specific effect of estrogens upon formation of bone.