Studies in osteoporosis: the long-term effect of oophorectomy and of ammonium chloride ingestion on the bone of mature rats.

Adult female rats were subjected to a prolonged period of observation after oophorectomy. The oophorectomized animals and their controls were given a regular diet ad lib and water or ammonium chloride as their drinking fluid. Oophorectomy did not result in reduced bone density, fat free weight, total ash weight, or calcium content of the bone, thus failing to produce the changes of osteoporosis. Ammonium chloride ingestion caused significant decreases in the same parameters equally in normal and oophorectomized rats. Thus, oophorectomy neither leads to changes of osteoporosis, nor increases the sensitivity of the bone to ammonium chloride-induced osteoporosis.