Age-related changes in bone mass in the senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM). SAM-R/3 and SAM-P/6 as new murine models for senile osteoporosis.

Age-related changes of the femoral bone mass in several strains of the senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) were investigated. Microdensitometrically, all strains exhibited essentially the same patterns of age changes, that is, bone mass corrected by the diameter of the shaft reached the peak value when the mice were 4 or 5 months of age and then fell linearly with age up to over 20 months of age. Two strains, SAM-R/3 and SAM-P/6, which originated from the same ancestry on pedigree, had a significantly lower peak bone mass than other strains (SAM-R/1, SAM-R/2, SAM-P/1, and SAM-P/2). On the other hand, the strains with a low peak bone mass had the same rate of decrease as other strains. Mineral and collagen contents per dry weight of bone showed little difference among the strains. Histologic studies of tibia, femur, and lumbar spine revealed that the osteopenia was not due to osteomalacia but, rather, to osteoporosis. The elderly mice in these two strains were prone to fracture, thus should be important models for study of senile osteoporosis seen clinically.