Electrical field stimulation improves bone mineral density in ovariectomized rats.

Osteoporosis and its consequent fractures are a great social and medical problem mainly occurring in post-menopausal women. Effective forms of prevention and treatment of osteoporosis associated with lower costs and the least side effects are needed. Electrical fields are able to stimulate osteogenesis in fractures, but little is known about their action on osteoporotic tissue. The aim of the present study was to determine by bone densitometry the effects of electrical stimulation on ovariectomized female Wistar rats. Thirty rats (220 +/- 10 g) were divided into three groups: sham surgery (SHAM), bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) and bilateral ovariectomy + electrical stimulation (OVX + ES). The OVX + ES group was submitted to a 20-min session of a low-intensity pulsed electrical field (1.5 MHz, 30 mW/cm(2)) starting on the 7th day after surgery, five times a week (total = 55 sessions). Global, spine and limb bone mineral density were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA Hologic 4500A) before surgery and at the end of protocol (84 days after surgery). Electrical stimulation improved (P < 0.05) global (0.1522 +/- 0.002), spine (0.1502 +/- 0.003), and limb (0.1294 +/- 0.003 g/cm(2)) bone mineral density compared to OVX group (0.1447 +/- 0.001, 0.1393 +/- 0.002, and 0.1212 +/- 0.001, respectively). The OVX + ES group also showed significantly higher global bone mineral content (9.547 +/- 0.114 g) when compared to both SHAM (8.693 +/- 0.165 g) and OVX (8.522 +/- 0.207 g) groups (P < 0.05). We have demonstrated that electrical fields stimulate osteogenesis in ovariectomized female rats. Their efficacy in osteoporosis remains to be demonstrated.