Objective To determine the effects of combination of epimedium herb extract and
diethylstilbestrol(CED) on the fifth lumbar
vertebral body(LV5) in ovariectomized rats.Methods Seventy 4.5-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham,ovariectomized(OVX),
diethylstilbestrol(DES),epimedium herb extract and CED at different doses(low,medium and high dose) group,being treated for 90 days.The rats were killed to determine the dynamic and static parameters of lumbar vertebral by bone histomorphometry and to detect the endometrial thickness.Results %TbAr and Tb.Th increased,but Tb.Sp,Oc.N and BFR/BV in thress CED groups decreased than those of OVX group.The bone-protective effect of high dose of CED was significantly greater than that of DES alone,while the effect of low dose of CED was identical to that of DES.Compared with OVX group,uterine weight and endometrial thickness in all doses of CEF were increased.But endometrial thickness in all doses of CED was lower than that in DES group.Conclusions The protective effect of CED on bone loss of LV5 in OVX rats was greater than that of DES alone,while the hypertrophic effect on uterine tissue of CED was lower than that of DES in OVX rats.