Abstract
The objective of this experiment was to examine the effect of late-onset alcohol abuse on aged bone using the rat model. Thirty female Fischer 344 rats were separated by weights into one of four groups: baseline, alcohol-fed, pair-fed, and pellet. The baseline group (n=6) was sacrificed after 1 week of acclimation. The pellet group was provided with standard rat pellet diet ad libitum. Alcohol-fed rats were given a modified Lieber-DeCarli diet ad libitum, which contained 35% calories from ethanol. The pair-fed rats received an isocaloric liquid diet that substituted ethanol calories with calories provided by maltose-dextrin. Blood alcohol concentrations were taken weekly and averaged 50.4 [] 3.7 mg/dL. The percent weight gain was significantly greater in the pair-fed (28.8 [] 2.33%) rats compared to the alcohol (16.4 [] 1.86%) and pellet (9.61 [] 1.84%) groups. Upon sacrificing the baseline (15 months old), the experimental and control (17 months old), the proximal tibiae were removed for histomorphological study. Alcohol and caloric restriction decreased the bone parameters significantly from the control group. Alcohol alone did not exert a significant effect on the aged bone. Based on the results of this experiment, late-onset alcohol abuse does not significantly impair bone structure in older adults. However, the combined effect of alcohol abuse and caloric restriction does significantly decrease bone quality in older adults.
Barker, Lisa Setchfield (2000). The consequence of late-onset alcohol abuse in aged bone: a histomorhometric analysis. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -2000 -THESIS -B373.