Femoral expansion in the adult male rat

The length, total and cortical widths at midshaft, and robusticity of femora were measured in growing and mature male Holtzman rats. Analysis of covariance revealed significant differences in the regression coefficients (slopes) between young rats (1-4 months) and adult rats (5-16 months), indicating that, for a given increment in femoral length, young rats have a smaller increment in total femoral width than do adult rats. In addition, the results indicated that femoral expansion occurs in adult male Holtzman rats (5-16 months of age) without cortical thinning or loss of bone mass.