Age-related and surgically induced estrogen deficiencies may differently affect bone around titanium implants in rats.

BACKGROUND: Valuable information has been obtained using the ovariectomy model; however, clinical studies have indicated that such a model may not be appropriate to parallel with the postmenopausal condition and titanium implants. Thus, this study aimed to comparatively evaluate, by histometric analysis, the influence of age-related (ARED) and surgically induced (OVX) estrogen deficiencies on bone around titanium implants inserted in rats.

METHODS: Single screw-shaped titanium implants were placed in rat tibiae and animals were then assigned to one of the following groups: SHAM (N = 15): bilateral sham ovariectomies in 90-day-old rats, 21 days before implant placement; OVX (N = 15): bilateral ovariectomies in 90-day-old rats, 21 days before implant placement; and ARED (N = 15): implant placement in reproductive aged rats (22 months old). After 60 days, the animals were sacrificed and undecalcified sections obtained. Bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone area (BA) within the limits of implant threads and bone density (BD) in a 500 microm-wide zone lateral to the implant were obtained and arranged for cortical (zone A) and cancellous (zone B) bone regions.

RESULTS: For zone A, intergroup analysis showed no significant differences regarding BIC and BA (P >0.05). In contrast, ARED negatively influenced BD around the implants (P <0.05). In zone B, OVX negatively affected BIC and BA (P <0.05), and both ARED and OVX groups demonstrated lower BD than the SHAM group (P <0.05).

CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded that ARED mainly affects preexisting bone while OVX more significantly affects both newly formed and preexisting bone.