Methods: Thirty female Sprague-Dawley rats were sorted into 5 groups (n = 6) namely: MPv (leaf treatment); MPr (root treatment); ERT (estrogen treatment); OVXC (untreated ovariectomized control) and Sham (untreated sham-operated control). All rats (except the Sham) were ovariectomized to induce a state of estrogen deficiency that simulates menopause. Two weeks after ovariectomy, the rats were treated for 8 weeks with oral gavages of estrogen and plant extracts. The ERT group received 64.5 μg/kg/day dose of estrogen while MPv and MPr groups received 20 mg/kg/day dose of leaf and root extracts, respectively. At the end of treatment, left femora were excised from euthanized rats and investigated for changes in bone micro-architecture, mineral density, and biomechanical properties.
Results: Bone volume fraction, degree of anisotropy and structure-model-index of bone were significantly improved (p