Modifications in Bone Matrix of Estrogen-Deficient Rats Treated with Intermittent PTH

Figure 3

(a and b) Modifications in the glycosaminoglycans after iPTH administration. Representative images of 10 sections/group under bright field micrographs. Sections of distal femora were stained by alcian blue, specific for sulfated GAGs (at pH 0.5). (a) OVX rats exhibiting more expression of sulfated GAGs compared with (b) PTH5 group. Scale bars represent 10 μm. (c and d) Representatives light micrographs of femoral sections stained for hyaluronan. Bone sections from (c) OVX rats exhibiting slightly less expression of hyaluronan expression (brownish color) compared with (d) PTH5-treated rats. Scale bars represent 200 μm. Ps: periosteum; Ct: cortical; Ma: bone marrow; Tb: trabecula; Gp: growth plate. (e and f) Representatives light micrographs of distal femora from rats stained by TUNEL for the detection of DNA breaks. (e) Femoral bone sections from OVX rats exhibit more TUNEL-positive when compared with (f) bone sections from PTH5 group. Arrowhead points at TUNEL-negative osteocytes and the arrow points at TUNEL-positive osteocytes. Inset shows TUNEL-positive hypertrophic chondrocytes (arrows) at the growth plate, serving as an internal positive control for each section. sections/group. Scale bars represent 10 μm. The number of TUNEL-positive osteocytes is expressed as mean ± SD. Ct: cortical; Ma: bone marrow; Tb: trabecula.

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