Growth hormone increases cortical and cancellous bone mass in young growing rats with glucocorticoid-induced osteopenia.

The effects of growth hormone (GH) on linear growth, bone formation, and bone mass have been examined in glucocorticoid (GC)-injected young growing rats. Two-month-old female Wistar rats were injected for 90 days with 1, 3, 6, or 9 mg of methylprednisolone alone or in combination with 5 mg of GH. Bone mass and bone formation parameters were examined in the femoral cortical bone and in cortical bone and cancellous bone of the lumbar vertebra. GC administration dose dependently decreased growth, longitudinal growth of the vertebra, as well as the modeling drift of the cortical bone of the vertebral body and femoral diaphysis. In the vertebral cancellous bone, GC also decreased the mineralizing surface and inhibited the growth-related increase in cancellous bone volume. GH increased growth, longitudinal growth of the vertebra, as well as the modeling drift of the vertebral body and the femoral diaphysis, resulting in an increased cortical bone mass. GH also increased cancellous bone volume and the mineralizing surface of the vertebral body. In GC-injected animals, GH normalized and further increased growth, longitudinal growth, and the modeling drift of both the femoral diaphysis and the vertebral body, resulting in an increased cortical bone mass at both locations. GH also increased cancellous bone volume of the vertebral body in GC-injected animals, but GH did not, however, reverse the decreased mineralizing surface of cancellous bone induced by GC injections. In conclusion, GC administration to growing rats retards normal growth, longitudinal growth, and cortical bone modeling drift. It also decreases the cancellous bone mineralizing surface and inhibits the normal age-related increase in cancellous bone volume of the vertebral body. In the growing rat skeleton, GH can counteract these GC-induced side effects, except for the GC-induced decrease in the mineralizing surface of cancellous bone of the vertebral body, which remained unaffected by GH administration.