Stanozolol stimulates remodelling of trabecular bone and net formation of bone at the endocortical surface.

Clin Sci (Lond). 1991 Oct;81(4):543-9.

Stanozolol stimulates remodelling of trabecular bone and net formation of bone at
the endocortical surface.

Benéton MN, Yates AJ, Rogers S, McCloskey EV, Kanis JA.

Department of Human Metabolism, University of Sheffield Medical School, U.K.

1. We studied the mechanism of action of the anabolic steroid, stanozolol, in 23
patients with osteoporosis, using a combination of biochemical and
histomorphometric techniques. 2. Treatment with stanozolol (5 mg/day) for 1 year
was associated with a marked and significant decrease in the fasting urinary
excretion of calcium (P less than 0.01) but not with changes in the serum
concentrations of calcium and phosphate, the serum activity of alkaline
phosphatase, the renal tubular reabsorption of calcium or the urinary excretion
of hydroxyproline. 3. Histological examination of trabecular bone showed an
increase in bone turnover and the bone formation rate increased twofold (P less
than 0.02). There were no significant changes in bone volume or wall thickness
after treatment. Tetracycline labelling was used to discriminate bone structural
units completed before and during treatment. Measurements of the wall thickness
of those bone structural units formed during treatment showed no significant
change. 4. Measurements made on the endocortical surface also showed an increase
in bone turnover, but in contrast to trabecular bone, the bone structural units
formed at endocortical sites during treatment had a significantly greater wall
thickness than those formed before treatment (P less than 0.05). 5. We conclude
that stanozolol increases the turnover of trabecular bone and increases the
endocortical apposition of bone.