The relationship between the appearance of bone metabolism disorders and the onset of steroid-induced osteonecrosis remains unclear. We studied the time course of calcium, phosphorus, osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase, and mineral density of bone tissue in the subchondral bone of the femoral head of rabbits injected with steroids and attempted to precisely determine the time when disorders in bone metabolism started in animals with steroid-induced osteonecrosis. We detected bone metabolism disorders involved in the early pathogenesis of steroid-induced osteonecrosis, which were the cause, but not the result of this condition.
Keywords: bone tissue mineral density; mineral; osteonecrosis; steroid drug.